Another Timeline
by ProcrastinatorC
Summary: Somehow no matter which world Sakura belonged to she was always surrounded by Uchihas. Even her past lives weren't spared of that fate. Non-Mass. DISCONTINUED
1. Chapter 1

Somehow no matter which world Sakura belonged to she was always surrounded by Uchihas. It didn't matter who she ended up with because her ties to the clan were so deeply embedded that it almost made no difference. Not that she herself knew any of that and certainly not in this one world.

Imagine one Sakura from one world interacting with another. Well this is completely what happened. Her inner had to come from somewhere, right?

Her _inner_ did not come out of nowhere and she has not always been clinically insane. That's just insulting. Though both could not exactly remember when they started to speak with each other, they were both inner and outer. Yeah it's as simple as that. They knew it was abnormal. They just didn't care.

So about the Uchiha...How did their world diverge? Well because of the interference of one messed goddess if we want to remain polite or the f-world would've described her perfectly.

In one world Uchiha Madara was still alive and messing with the timeline. In the other he was quite dead and remained so. Well…he did for a while.

What did that change? Everything. Sakura was known to be a fangirl in her misguided youth. Before being a fangirl she was known to have Ino as her best friend. Even before that she was known as a shy girl getting bullied for being different. She always buried herself in books too complicated for her age and did not have friends. Always alone and lonely. She did not seem like a bitch during this period. That was past Inner.

Past outer Sakura was the one in the messed up line. And as Sakura from this timeline she was weak. So weak that she had to take the role of the Inner and Inner became Outer, the one from the original timeline.

⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓

"Inner can't you shut up?! I'm trying to sleep!" She couldn't hold out her frustration and screamed it out loud.

 _ **No I can't! Sasuke-kun looks so yummy!*squeal*Aahhh! He crossed his arms! Oh! He's looking at us!**_

 _Spare me from this shit! I don't care about this flirty brat!_

 _ **You're so lucky with yours and you don't even enjoy him!**_

 _Enjoy? Enjoy what?_

 _ **Well…**_

 _Argh! My eyes! It burns! Stop those images! Stop corrupting my mind! And how do you know how_ that _looks like?! No, don't answer!_

 _ **Why do you act like that? It's not like you're a prude.**_

 _And because of_ who _!_

She did not reply. Her usual clash with Ino had to have started otherwise she would have continued on her endless rant.

Inner went to school early through the pain of lacking sleep just to see her precious perverted fantasy on live before Ino. There's a limit to how much one girl can think of a boy but those two had no such thing. Pheromones were one of the most dangerous weapons on earth. Witnessed and approved. None rivaled its damages.

She wasted 30 minutes of extremely appreciated but totally not respected sleep. She stifled the urge to destroy everything in her path and beat her pillow. She stopped doing that because she knew once she exceeded a certain amount of time she wouldn't know how to stop.

She banged her hand against her alarm clock to keep it from beeping and got up with her duvet trailing behind her. Her flat was small but it was enough for her. She did not waste space and she kept it clean without fail. Her kitchen did not lack equipment, just her fridge that could do with more food.

She yawned and took out a yogurt and some fruits. She knew better than to keep milk in there. She dreaded ever making the same mistake as before and drink expired milk. That was deadly.

She glared at the window, expecting something to burst it and enter her household but nothing happened. Deeming it to mean she would have a calm morning she contently sipped her juice. She finally noticed the time and hurried to get changed. Her outfit was like Inner's dress except it was a two piece and she had black leggings beneath her skirt. She also had bangs and braided her waist length hair. The duvet did not survive and let her go near her bed like every other morning.

She took an apple for lunch since having lost adoptive parents at a young age, and no one to cook for her. The money problem was just obvious. Yes, Mebuki and Kizashi Haruno are her adoptive parents. Only 4 people knew. Her parents, the hokage and her. Now it was only 2. Inner did not know.

"Hmm...why do I feel like I forgot something?"She tapped her finger against her chin. "Well it shouldn't be important if I forgot."

She quickly took the road to go to the academy while sighing during the entire time it took her to get there. A big crowd could be seen from afar. It did not bode well. She hated having to get along with her fellows. Give her a big book on the theory of chakra manipulation and she won't complain but dump her into a room full of people and she'll plan your death. It's not like she hated them, she would just feel better without the noise they always bring with them. Especially Sasuke and his bunch of obsessed fans. She could not believe he had males fans chasing after him. It was a disturbing image.

"Hey Sakura!" She heard a voice calling her from behind. She painstakingly turned her head.

"Oh hey Kira!" I replied.

Kira was a girl her age who went to the civilian school. She wasn't an important figure among their age but she had enough influence to annoy you for a long time if you ignored her. Let it not be said that children are lazy. Hence she took the time to talk to her, a little bit. Just the strict minimum to get her off my back.

"I heard Sasuke-kun asked you on a date. How was it?"The civilian eagerly asked.

"What?"

"The date."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Was that what she forgot?

"Hm? Was it a false rumor? What a shame." She whined like her favorite toy got stolen.

"..."

"Well see you later!" She waved and left.

"I will never understand girls."

 _ **You're a girl.**_

 _Shut up._

The bell rang and she rushed to class. The teacher was still not there when she arrived but they all heard a 'Naruto!' being yelled out. She had a few minutes before Iruka-sensei barge in with Naruto in his hold.

She took a seat at the back against the window and went off to lalaland. She was gonna fall asleep when an ear shattering scream was heard just next to her sensitive ear. She moaned in agony and clutched her ear in her right hand. She raised her whole body and got ready to lash out in front of the world when she noticed who was seating next to her.

"Ah Saku-tan! Good morning!" He grinned and winked at her like the player he was. He's 12 and already on his way to be the ultimate playboy. Wait, was he the one who obliterated her eardrum?

"..."She ignored him. Nope, it did not happen. He did not scream like a little girl.

"Sakuuu-taan." Yep, it did…

"Sasuke-kun! Don't talk to her!"One girl spat at her. Why her? Why not him?"She doesn't deserve your attention!" Another one of his fangirls cried out. Ah...it was her. Freaking banshee.

"Now now girls. Every one of you are too good for me. I'm not worthy enough for you to get angry."

"Kyyaaa!"And with that last word or sound or maybe scream, or code, he went back to his paramour.

Sakura let out a huff and sat back down. She shift her head to the window too early to see his not so secretive glance and unreadable expression.

She resisted the urge to leer at him and surveyed the rest of the class. She hissed at the girls still glaring at her. Iruka-sensei entered the room with...was he covered with...was that peanuts? How did he get stuck with peanuts? How did Naruto make the nuts hold on? She guessed the feathers were getting boring. She snorted. Sasuke watched the scene with something akin to anger? Why would he be angry? May Naruto rest in peace. No, she couldn't give up on him just yet.

"Dammit! Naruto, go to your seat!" Iruka-sensei screamed. Naruto looked sheepish but victorious if his smirk was anything to go by.

This morning was as interesting as usual meaning not at all. You do not make a bunch of prepubescent angsty teenagers endure a morning of lectures about things like history or how to calculate the range your kunai could go at what strength and speed. It can be useful. Well maybe not. She did not slack off but she also didn't try to take the first place for this. She didn't really try to take the first place for anything. Any unwanted attention gave her shivers.

Iruka-sensei was gone as fast as the wind. She was startled by his speed but merely buried her head in the crook of her arms and waited for the silence to set back.

"Yata!" She recognized Naruto. Ah, it had to be lunch break. Goodbye notebooks and hello apple that will not fill her stomach. And they say she's on a diet. Pff, what a joke. Paying electricity, water and rent was expensive and she was not old enough for a part time job. How did Naruto get to eat so much ramen? He shouldn't have the money. Anyways, she would finally get an income as a ninja. She only had to wait one more month. An extremely excruciating very long month.

The class was soon deserted except for a few exceptions such as Shikamaru and his best friend Choji. She bet he was too lazy to move his ass out of the chair. She salivated at the sight of Choji's chips. Barbecue flavored ones. Her hands were moving without her consent towards the target. She slapped herself. It was time for her to relocate.

As she exited the building, the sun rays beamed right into her eyes making her spin too quickly and get dirt in them and she let out a grunt before slipping to the ground while blocking her eyes from the light. It wasn't until the pain ebbed away that she moved and fell again by bumping her toe against a pebble. Her shoes needed to be replaced. On top of a tree nearby the scene, an anbu guarding Naruto was silently laughing.

"There's no justice in this world." She grumbled under her breath. She flipped her long braid over her shoulder and dusted off the dirt.

 _ **Or you're just plain stupid and not fit to be a ninja. Defeated by a small piece of rock, what a strong person you are.**_

 _You do know that I am you, right?_

 _ **No. You're a version of me. Definitely not an upgrade as I see…**_

 _Oh you bitch! I dare you to repeat that!_

 _ **What? That you're stupid?**_

 _Fuck you!_

 _ **Sorry but I'm not that narcissistic.**_

 _You!_

 _ **Yeah. Me. You're surprisingly articulate these days, Outer.**_

 _I shall take my revenge and sing the Let it go song while you stalk_ him.

 **…**

…

 _ **OH YOU WOULDN'T DARE!**_

 _TRY ME._

She cut their conversation and headed to the library. It was always quiet in there. Probably due to the fact there always were shinobi reading in peace and when you disturb them, you put your head on a stake.

She decided to change for once and not search scrolls on techniques with her clearance. As an academy student there wasn't a lot she was allowed to read so it was alright. She did not count the times she sneaked in the chunin and jonin section. She settled for a novel with a synopsis that screamed good story. Even the cover looked inviting. It should be a quick read with that length. Finding her usual spot, she sat and flipped open the book.

"So Matsura and landlady, what's it gonna be?"

An hour later.

"Argh! Right in the feeeels!" She flung her hands to her chest. "Onions are everywhere! It's an invasion!" She wiped her tears."Why are you looking at me! No, I'm not crying! You are!" She exclaimed to a guy watching her.

The librarian shushed her but stopped when he saw the book's title. He nodded and gave her a smile."Ah! You read this one!" She saw understanding in his eyes. A lone tear had escaped out of the corner of his eye.

"The cover looked so welcoming…but the story..." She trailed off. _Don't judge a book by its cover._

He beckoned her over. They walked back to where she found it and she saw him make a gesture with his hand for the book. She extended it to him and he put it back in its place. He looked proud."Well, shouldn't you be at school?" He asked with that ever lasting serene smile.

"School?" She tilted her head slightly to the side."School." She said like she was testing the word."School...Oh shit! I gotta go!" She ran off.

"I'm so late!"She dived into the sea of people in the streets and jumped a fence before arriving to their training ground.

Sasuke was desperately looking for his prey but saw no pink hair in his range of sight. He was temped to use his immature sharingan but refrained. Meanwhile Hinata was observing Naruto by hiding behind a target. The poor guy didn't understand why he felt so paranoid.

Sakura could finally go back home and relax doing nothing but spy on the other Sakura. She swore to sing that blasted song until inciting the other to slip and reveal herself. One should know when one is being stalked. She felt like a hypocrite for some unknown reasons.

She opened her fridge and closed it. She loved fruits but she was fed up with them. Did she even eat her apple? She peered at her calendar and saw the date marked with a red dot. Did she plan something for today? She hoped not because it would mean she missed it. She missed it…Miss? Missing? Missing the visit. The visit!

"Shisui!" She blurred out and ran to the door.

She raced to the hospital and hoped it was still visiting hours. She greeted the nurses and entered the room without even checking the number. That's how used to it she was. She knew she had forgotten something.

"Hime-chan?" His voice was warm if not a little hoarse by the lack of use.

"Hi! Sorry for the delay!" It made him chuckle. She took the opportunity to sit on the bed next to his arm.

He patted her head."Don't worry. So how was your day?"

"..." Should she tell him the truth? Does she even know whether it was good or bad?"Um...it was...full." The window was not that far. She could jump now.

"What an incredible way to describe your day." He replied dryly.

"Well I can't really describe it." She pouted.

"Yeah I'm sure." He moved his hand up and down, messing with her hair. She let him continue.

"What's so fascinating about my hair?" She asked.

"It's so soft and silky. It almost makes me forget that it's pink." He grinned and she was sure that if he did not have his blindfold his eyes would be smiling. His beautiful eyes...

"How was your check up?" It pained her when she said it because she knew the answer would be the same as the day before like the day before it and so on since his eyes were deemed useless.

"Ah they're still trying to find what's wrong with my chakra coils. They're waiting for Tsunade-hime for further leads."

"I'm sure she will come." They both knew it was a lie but it did not stop them from talking about it because it would be like giving up.

She gave him a secretive sad smile. It's not like he could comment on it. She told him before to just give up on his eyes and get advantage of what he had now but his clan was not as lenient. She grabbed his hand and tightened her hold on him. They chatted until sunrise and she slept next to him. She really did forget something important.

The days passed each one not diverging from the other. Sakura conversed with Shisui everyday and she managed to miss being introduced to the famous Itachi every time. If she had arrived one moment earlier on the day she was late she would have seen him. Unfortunately it was just not meant for their path to cross for now. Her last month at the academy was slowly coming to its final day with the exams.

Her classmates were lamenting over their paper exams right and left and a few were preparing for the physical aspects of them. She found it slightly ironic how it was the ones at the top who stressed over their results while the ones at the bottom were relaxing. The probability for the civilians to pass were low. They were more worried about their appearances and popularity than learning how to be a ninja. It was downright pathetic that the fangirls were somehow above the average of the class.

"Oiroke no jutsu!" Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs.

She felt her jaw go slack at the girl being replaced by Naruto. Her private parts were only covered by a thin layer of smoke.

 _ **The bitch! As if a woman would have those big breasts and look at that butt! I bet she can't even wear pants!**_

 _It's Naruto…not for much longer but it's still him._

The girl henge was winking provocatively. The teachers were no better with their reactions. A vein popped out of her forehead and her fists tightened at her sides. Her feet were ready to jump over and pummel him to death but she was interrupted by the teacher getting up from the attack on his male instincts. She released all the profanities coming to her mind. The poor boy in the seat behind her was cowering at the death threats. If she could not beat him up, she could always imagine it at least. The girls showed the same behavior.

It was soon forgotten by the onslaught of classmates trying to achieve their best at performing the jutsu that needed to be mastered.

The exams were tomorrow and she had a bad feeling about it. There was a sense of doom in the air. Ignoring it would only leave you unprepared from unexpected situations. She took a note to be careful on this day.

The next day was normal. After completing all that was asked of her she was given her hitai-ate but she surprisingly felt no pride in having it after so many years of waiting. She wanted to be on a team with Shisui but it was not possible. She was still too weak. She had promised herself that she would find a way but she came up with nothing. Shisui was off duty for an unlimited period and he was still unable to freely move like how he used to. It dampened her spirits.

Sasuke had also passed but she expected no less from him. A lone figure was waiting for him near the gate and he took off after it. It had to be a family member like his brother because no matter how much he seemed to care about his lambs * _cough*_ obsessive freaks* _cough*_ he never shared anything private with them.

She wasted too much time lost in her thoughts. The last thing she saw before leaving the academy was Naruto without a hitai-ate being approached by Mizuki the Asshole. Hum, Mizuki-sensei. She had to finish reading about the theory of unblocking chakra coils.

She slept before sundown with unease and tossed in her sleep. She could not stop feeling like something horrible was bound to happen.

Meanwhile Naruto took two forbidden scrolls and read the techniques.

"You've gotta be kidding me! I'm shitty with the bunshin!" He still took half an hour to read the instructions on the kage bunshin no jutsu and proceeded to try to execute the next one. He hissed when he cut himself on the paper.

"Argh! I'll need the other jutsu to do this one!" He scratched his head."I need a test subject!" He arrived to a random graveyard and put the scroll across him. He overloaded his chakra to the point of straining himself from inexperience and performed the first technique.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!" Four clones popped and he let out a victorious cry. "I did it! I did it!" After letting the dizziness pass, he quickly prepared for the second. He ordered his clone to place themselves at a specific place.

He formed the signs. "Edo Tensei!" He slapped his hands to the ground and four coffins were dug out from under the ground.

They stood stall and solid in front of him. The first one from his left slowly opened. A guy with long hair and a red armor came out. He looked imposing from his height to the aura he seemed to exude from his very being. He heard a feral growl and jumped at the noise. He squinted his eyes in the darkness to detect where the sound came from. The first corpse looked confused until the second coffin opened. Before he even had the time to see the person, the coffin next to him trembled. The seal encrypted on it exploded and he coughed at the smoke. Before he had the time to react a shadow flashed behind him and a hand gripped his throat.

"Don't move;" The voice was calm but held a stoic coldness that froze him over.

He was in deep shit.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

A huge amount of chakra was felt like a wave crashing onto the village. The third hokage who was until now spying through his crystal ball hurried and called his personal anbu.

"Bird and Cat, call the second unit! Rat!" They went out the window and could be seen jumping over the roofs at an alarming pace.

A second later, a tall brown haired man appeared behind the hokage."Hai hokage-sama!"

"Retrieve Weasel and tell him to find his team and go!" He flipped his arm in the air to show him out.

"Hai!" Rat bowed and he was gone faster than he arrived.

The hokage sighed and banged his head against the crystal ball in exasperation." Naruto, what have you done this time?"

The anbus were seen by the villagers who felt the disturbance even without being trained in using their chakra. The jonin were directing the chunin to a defensive position in case it was an attack within the village while the genin got ready to get the civilians out of the way in safe grounds. The lights once off were switched on and some went out of their houses to observe the commotion. The clans were getting ready to launch a counter-attack if needed.

Weasel arrived at the scene before the others and tensed immediately. He could not have ever reckoned these legends to ever be seen alive again if this could count as living. The graveyard was not even visible anymore. It felt more like the middle of a forest than anything else. The trees blocked any light from passing and his sharingan detected a copious amount of chakra pulsing in the trees. They were moving and growing. A root encircled his ankle. He instantly burned it.

"I told you I didn't know it was you, dattebayo! What would I want from you old man?!" Naruto was easy to recognize, from his ticks to his obnoxious voice. He wondered if it was not a strategy to get them all to believe he was an idiot when he was or could be smart.

A guy cannot prank the Anbu if he's stupid after all. They're not incompetent. His old clothes begged to differ. Naruto might be the walking definition of boy swinging between genius and moron.

"Oh! Who did you sacrifice to bring us back, little brat!" The second hokage sternly demanded.

"Tobi, he's still a kid. Be more gentle." His brother ushered at him.

"Shut up!" Tobirama growled."You've always been too lenient with these kind of things! Just let me handle it!"

A black little cloud could be seen above Hashirama's head. The air was compressed into a depressive atmosphere.

"Haha..." The forth hokage scratched his cheek and grinned uneasily. That was his son they were trying to interrogate. He could not just let them kill him. He waited for things to unfold. He suddenly tensed."Guys?"

"What?!" Tobirama raised his head and flashed him a murderous glare.

"There're 4 coffins..." The rest was easy to guess.

They all tensed and examined their surroundings. Hashirama deployed his senses and searched for a sixth person in the woods. He did not find the right person. A man with a weasel mask stepped out at the same time as reinforcement joined him. Recognizing them as Anbu he let his guard down just the slightest bit. He still did not know their goals in resurrecting them.

"Shodaime-sama." Weasel bowed. His teammates were still trying to connect the dots and realize that their first hokage was really standing before them.

The wind was silently blowing while the forth missing undead explored this new but familiar territory. The sakura trees were in full bloom but he did not feel as calm as he should have been at the sight. He was restless. The last thing he remembered was being killed by Hashirama while fighting at the valley of the end.

"Oi! I found a big piece! Just how did could it explode?" Dog called out. She turned the big plank and paled.

Sakura turned for the umpteenth time and fell off the bed. She spat her hair out of her mouth and tapped her hand on the nightstand for her hair tie. It was at the tip of her finger but she was too lazy to stand up and take it. In the end she had to. She crawled to her door and took her sandals and headed outside to refresh her mind. She saw the sakura trees and knew where to hide herself. It was ironic how she was only able to hide herself in its leaves and flowers. Cursed pink hair.

She picked the tallest tree and gathered a thin layer of chakra to her feet. She stuck her foot a few times before getting the perfect amount. She jumped and ran to the top. Having the best control paid off and she slouched on a sturdy branch.

"The moon is strangely bright tonight" The third hokage thought as he tried to delay the inevitable. He was getting too old if he could not identify his old masters' chakra.

"Hiruzen! You've gotten so old!" Hashirama grinned and took a seat.

"Shut up brother." Tobirama bonked his head and took the seat beside him.

Naruto winced and rubbed the back of his head like he was the one to receive it but it was just his memories of Iruka catching him. He vaguely wondered the whereabouts of Mizuki-sensei as he had technically fulfilled his mission. Minato was looking at the moon thinking over what happened.

"Hey you. I feel like I've seen you somewhere." Naruto whispered at him. Minato directed his attention to his son.

"Somewhere?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah! This blonde hair and those blue eyes...I'm sure I've seen this coloring before!" His nose wrinkled in concentration.

"Minato." Hiruzen broke their conversation.

"Hai?"

"You didn't listen at all, huh?"

"Hahaha! Sorry."

Hiruzen felt ten years older just by looking at the young forth. He was supposed to be enjoying his retirement for a while. Maybe it was his chance to get away from paperwork.

The last member of the recently resurrected was still missing. The only lead they had was that he was a Uchiha and so it fell onto the clan's responsibility to find and restrain the undead one. Itachi took off his mask to give the news to his father. He wouldn't have his long awaited sleep yet.

Fugaku was alone with his wife for once in a long time. He embraced her and tightened his hold on her. Never would he appear so vulnerable in the presence of another except her. They wouldn't have had 2 children if it was out of duty after all. They would have settled with Itachi and gone on their merry way. Just as he was leaning to kiss her they both heard the door rattle. They jumped and went on as if it never happened.

He glanced at his son and wished he had locked the door.

"I come bearing news about…."

Mikoto had drowned her son out and let them take care of the nuisance. She had to find the perfect girl for her second son and stop his casanova ways. She absolutely loathed the idea of those harpies taking a hold of his poor son. If it came to the worst she would be going at it Uchiha women style. It was bloody but oh so effective.

The Uchiha night patrol was in for a long night of research.

Sakura felt ready to tear Inner a new one. The world had something against her taking naps outside.

 _Feels like a cow, coming through,_

 _Fuck are you gonna do,_

 _Oh I guess it's all oveer,_

 _This is the only thing I think you knooow..._

 _ **Oi! I thought you were gonna sing let it go!**_

 _Nope. I don't remember the lyrics. Do you like my remix of Guts over fear? I named it Fat over muscle after you._

 _ **You just implied that I'm a cow so don't expect me to thank you!**_

 _It' s better than creepy bitch. Don't think I can't see you breaking into his house and get back those cameras._

 _ **You're no…**_

She suddenly felt a huge earthquake. Or was she the only one to feel it? Now that she finally took notice the village seemed too awake. There was a spike of energy just a few moments earlier.

 _ **Brat!**_

 _Nope I'm cutting you out._

She felt another shake and her grip on the branch loosened. She was thrown off with another one. The stranger was pounding his fists into the tree. It was gonna give out by the sheer force of the punches.

"Who's beating the tree up?!" She complained. She was currently flying in the air in free style and about 3 seconds from hitting the ground.

She was gathering her chakra in front of her to lessen the impact when a hand grabbed her by the waist and swirled her until she felt her tip of her feet touch the ground. She felt an imposing stature against her frail one and looked up.

The man stopped breathing for an instant and his onyx eyes turned to crimson. His eyes transformation did not stop there and the commas of his sharingan went on a mad rampage to catch the other until a new design adorned his eyes.

"Sakura?" A rough voice broke the silence. It took her a moment to understand it came from the strange man still holding her by the waist.

"Nope, mister! My name is..."She brought Inner up to sate on this strange encounter to help her think of a name.

 _ **Why don't you call yourself meat? Cow meat.**_

 _Why did I even ask you? Return to your stalking._

 _ **That's not stalking! That's observing and admiring from afar!**_

"My name is...Midori." If she had to go further into the cliches so be it. It was better than knowing that this stranger had her name though it was easy to guess.

She emitted panicked spikes of chakra to signal an intruder even though he was an Uchiha because she would remember if a guy took a walk on the streets with a red armour.

A few ninjas replied to her distress call but no one approached. The guy wouldn't let go of her waist and Inner was definitely not helping the matter by thinking of the dango she planned on buying after being placed on a genin team. A new group arrived a few minutes later and Naruto's jumpsuit came into view. How could the thing be neon at night? She felt even more glares on her. She struggled against mister stranger and revealed her face to the newcomer. The silence was broken by gasps.

"Is pink hair that strange?!" She cried out.

"Sakura-chan?" _Dumbass._ _ **Moron in an orange stick.**_

⁓⁓⁓⁓

They moved to the hokage office.

"Naruto-kun." His gaze followed the rock she reduced to dust with her bare hands."You're dead." She took his hand and put the remaining dust in his palm." You see this? This is you when I'll be done."

He sweatdropped and took a step back. She didn't even look pissed off. She had this uninterested air on. She wasn't fazed by the strange fixation the men he brought back had on her hair. She slowly swept her braid over her shoulder to pick the tie. The braid softly unraveled to show the biggest senbon he ever saw in his life. It shone a brilliant purple.

"The poison was a present from-well you don't need to know, so my friend gave me a weapon. I always keep it with me." Her eyes gleamed with malice." I hope they get the antidote in time for you because I won't give mine." She cackled.

 _ **Oi. You revealed too much.**_

 _Oups._

 _ **Yeah oups.**_

 _Then I can't chase him?_

 _ **Let me sleep.**_

 _Hoho! Now you want to sleep? What about_ my _sleep?_

 **…**

 _I won't let you go. I'm gonna solve some problems here and there and then I will give you all my precious attenti..._

Naruto waited for his fatality finshing hit when Sakura stopped moving. She instantly lost balance and was caught by the white haired guy who was being hissed at someone who could pass as an Uchiha.

"Blasted Uchiha! Did you put a genjutsu on her?!" Tobirama snarled.

"Like I would!"The man snapped back.

"Silence!" Hashirama shouted over their voices. They did not continue talking.

"First we have to know what to do with her. She fainted so she has to be out of chakra or..."He was gonna share the rest of his famous theory when Tobirama interjected.

"This bastard has to be responsible." He pointed at the other man.

"You three are the ones who we should be worried about! Let the poor girl go! She was not even supposed to be there!" Hiruzen massaged his temples." Minato, I leave the rest to you. "And with these last words he retired for the night.

"Well, we should all go to sleep and talk tomorrow." No one opposed him.

"Can we even sleep?" Hashirama mumbled pulling on Madara's arm. Tobirama grunted and took the lead.

Naruto skipped happily with the scrolls still in his possession. Sakura was taken by Minato who was by far the safest choice. He grabbed Naruto's collar and took the scrolls without being noticed before directing them to his old house. It should do for now as he was officially dead. A little dust and dirt won't kill them.

Meanwhile,

Mizuki was still waiting for the forbidden scrolls. He was soon apprehended by the T&I for suspicious behavior around the crime scene.


	3. Chapter 3

Sakura looked around and sighed. Everything was dark and there was no way to find out where she was. She would have thought it was her mind but Inner was absent. She grew worried and ran to the void. Either way everything was the same.

Her steps faltered and her breathing grew heavy. A strange sensation sat on her chest. Looking down, there was nothing holding her down but the feeling wouldn't go away. A nearly imperceptible noise drew her attention behind her. She saw a bright mist coming straight at her and threw herself to the side. The mist left a blow of air in its haste and threw her out of the dark.

Her body wouldn't respond to her commands to move and her mind eventually shut down.

Outside, Minato was waiting for everyone to wake up.

Sakura was currently glaring at the ceiling for what seemed like forever. She had just woken up and she didn't feel good. Her limbs refused to cooperate and she swore she heard her inner cackling like a deranged witch.

Her pinkie twitched but quickly gave up on any more movement. Frustrated was inefficient to describe what state she was slowly going into.

When she reopened her eyes once again she was back home which was creepy since the door and window were supposed to be locked and trapped by a genjutsu and she only closed her eyes for a minute. She didn't even hear someone approaching. She wondered if it was a dream.

She yawned and got up. She had less than ten minutes to get ready so she rushed without taking a breakfast and her new ninja outfit laid on top of her small closet. The outfit still had a few changes to be made before she even considered wearing it. It was unnecessarily fancy and lacked something called modesty but so cheap.

The crowd seemed really big this morning. She had difficulties to go to the academy. Even the roofs were full. It was crazy and kind of expected when she saw the proof of the fact that she had not been dreaming.

Naruto was talking to the forth next to the entrance. They were not being stealthy at all. Their blonde hair was like a flashlight. Now would have been a good time to ask how she ended up in her bed when she obviously was outside when she… when she… when she fainted. Argh! How could she faint?!

She silently walked to their side and waved her hand. Naruto jumped while the forth just smiled at her.

"Uh hello...uh…." She fiddled with her fingers and searched for a way to ask how she was brought back.

Minato seemed to understand what she was trying to say and whispered.

"I was the one who took you back so don't worry." He patted her head. He turned his head towards the sky and went away like a flash. She felt more confused than before.

 _A mind reader._

 _ **A face read. You're like an open book.**_

 _Why don't you just go back to your side?_

 _ **I'm bored.**_

 _Ahhhh just, just leave._

Inner surprisingly offered no resistance. She didn't know whether it was good news or if she had to foresee some sort of coup d'etat in the future.

Naruto smiled at her and went inside. He looked unusually worn out.

She took her usual seat and watched the class get filled. Iruka-sensei arrived and the noise settled down. She zoned out and tried to recall her dream.

"...nata, Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke."

"What?" Naruto and Sasuke both shouted.

Hinata blushed like it was her last day on earth and every fangirl in the room screamed. They directed all their anger on poor Hinata who had no interest in their idol. She was too busy trying to stay conscious to be able to dodge whatever came her way. Ino looked ready to tear her a new one but was restrained by Choji who was asking Shikamaru to help him.

Sakura felt a tap on her shoulder and turned over. She saw the Uchiha insignia on his sleeve and narrowed her eyes.

"Haruno Sakura?" He asked. His voice was mature for his age and he looked like a no nonsense kind of guy.

"Yes?"

"We're on the same team. Uchiha Katou." He shook her hand and shifted back to his previous position. Well, now she knew she missed her team announcement.

She felt a glare from the other side of the room and saw Ami. If looks could kill she would be six foot under the ground.

She missed her second teammate's and sensei's names. It was not a good start and she was still pondering on what happened with the hokages. They were really noticeable, you really couldn't miss them so why was there not an uproar?

"Uchiha-san?"

"Hn?" It has been a while since she heard the famous uchiha language.

"Was there any announcement this morning?" He looked at me like I was crazy.

"How could you not hear about it?" _Well, excuse you, I wasn't really paying attention._ " Our hokages have been brought back to life to guard the village against the new threat."

"A new threat?" He gave me the look that said 'Are you that dumb?'

"Orochimaru." Ok, that was idiotic of her not to have guessed. It's been a while since the traitor planned to take his vengeance against the village. As if the leaders would condone experiments on the population. The guy was completely nuts.

She eyed his ponytail with nostalgia. She swore she saw a similar hairstyle before. She eyes her undone braid and pouted. His hair was so straight and shone so brightly. Her senbon was sticking out and the poison had been absorbed by her hair that looked healthier after the intake. She wondered how poison could have benefits for her hair. Maybe its color was not just for show.

While she mused another boy sat in front of them and fixed his gaze on both of them. It was a little unnerving for the Uchiha to be stared by those blank lilac eyes, it was like being stared by a bind person.

He turned to his new female teammate and resisted the urge to scream. He was an Uchiha and it was a requirement to be fearless but it was kind of different when you had the son of your clan head planning your death. Everyone boy their age knew not to go near her. He didn't think she even noticed how the Uzumaki was the only one with enough guts to talk to her but he was suicidal so he did not count.

The girl did not seem to care about their presence. Was he supposed to feel relieved? He was not used to being ignored with his clan genes, the girls tended to drift towards their kind but this one was like an anti-uchiha girl. He never saw her interact willingly with any of them.

"Are you gonna stare at me any longer, Hyuga?" Sakura asked after feeling too uncomfortable with the looks in her direction.

"So you're the famous Haruno Sakura." He already sounded like a stuck up clansman. She could not have it easy for once.

"Famous?"She pointed at herself. The guy dared to raise an eyebrow and smirk at her mockingly.

"Hmph. You're Uchiha Sasuke's girlfriend, of course you're famous around here." She just died and went to hell. That's it. It's all a big nightmare.

"How jealous is he going to be that a Hyuga gets to be on your team? It should be interesting."

"I am not his girlfriend." She gritted her teeth.

She breathed out and recoiled from the sudden realization. She was put with an Uchiha and a Hyuga. Were they trying to kill her? You never the two dojutsu clans together, it was like asking for war. And they put her with them. She was doomed.

"I'm so jealous of Hinata and forehead!" Ino screamed before being dragged away by her team."Noooo!"

"Why does she keep on calling me that? It's getting old." Sakura muttered under her breath but she was heard by both.

Time passed and no one took them. There was only two teams still in class. Even Iruka-sensei went away a long time ago.

She heard Naruto's complaining and Hinata's pleas for him to calm down. Her own teammates were a little better if you liked the cold silence of an old clan rivalry. What kind of sensei make their students wait for 3 hours?

Sasuke was too quiet. It made her paranoid, expecting something to jump on her anytime soon. He wasn't even paying attention to his surroundings. Was he sick? She wanted to check on him but refrained for fear of getting him too fired up. She recalled the one time she checked on him, he pounced on her and rubbed his face against the top of her head while encasing her in his arms. She remembered suffocating and begging for freedom.

Her conscious was betraying her. She twitched on her spot.

 _Don't move. Don't move. Don't move!_

On the other side, Inner was having an epiphany. She decided to move.

She peered at the doorway whereas Narrator prepared his prank.

"Should teach him good to make us wait!" He snickered.

"Na-na-na-nar-naru-naruto, y-yo-you sh-shoudn't..." Oh god, someone put an end to this stuttering. At the beginning it's cute but now it just grates on her nerves.

Sakura sat at the back of the class away from everyone and stared at the window like she used to. Outside, 2 morons were running straight into the entrance door. She laughed.

Sasuke broke out of his daydreaming at the sound of laughter and his eyes widened. Rarely did Sakura laugh in his presence and he was not gonna waste this opportunity to see a happy expression on her face.

He was distracted by a noise coming from the corridor as she stopped smiling and the door slided open.

She was impassive as she saw the two get caught in Naruto's trap. So far she wasn't impressed as she saw their hitai-ate and deduced them to be their new sensei. They were both out of breath and arguing like brats. The chalk powder was like the icing on the human cakes. Sasuke moved and slapped one of them over the head.

"Ow! Sasu-chan! How dare you hit your cousin?!"

"Shut up baka." She never saw him look so stoic in all the years she knew him.

"Aw! Sasu-cakes is angry." The black haired one exclaimed. He had an eye patch and his hair was in disarray just like Naruto but shorter. He was undoubtedly a moron. Uh….an Uchiha.

"You heard him, moron. Shut up." The silver scarecrow had the guts to blurt out. He was no better than him, covered in chalk powder. That's what she thought until she missed their talk and saw him poof out. It was a clone.

She had to pay attention or else she wouldn't be qualified to call herself a kunoichi. The rest hurried to the rooftop. She was quickly told to hurry to the rooftop and saw them all rush out of the room to take the stairs. She stared at the door for a minute before opening one of the window and walked up. She jumped over the rails and watched in silence as the teachers stared at her.

"Did they learn to do that at the academy?"The black haired one asked.

"Of course not." The silver haired one scoffed.

A minute later they all arrived with panted breath, even Sasuke. Naruto pointed at her and looked behind him several times before receiving a chop on the head courtesy of Sasuke.

"Don't point at her, dobe."

"Bu-but she was..."

Sakura was sure Hinata knew how to walk on walls with chakra but had followed Naruto. Her teammates grumbled before walking on each side of her. Better her in the middle than them starting their staring fest.

"So it's time to introduce yourselves."The scarecrow began.

"Why don't you do it first?" Naruto asked.

"I guess you need an exemple. My name is Hatake Kakashi. I have many likes and dislikes. I have enough hobbies to occupy my time and I don't feel the need to share my dreams. Your turn." His name suited him perfectly but that's basically the only thing they learnt.

We all glanced at the second sensei.

He coughed." I'm Uchiha Obito. I like a lot of things and dislike the teme next to me. I help the elderly and what I have is not a dream but a reality, I'll become hokage." He said the last sentence with so much conviction that she could not find it in herself to refute him though he also didn't say a lot about himself." Blondie, go first."

"Oi! My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like ramen and the color orange and I hate the time it takes for ramen to cook. I love pranking people and training. My dream...I don't have one." Sakura snapped her head at him.

"And hokage?" She whispered. He glanced at her and shook his head.

"Uchiha Sasuke. I loves girls and loath boys who think they can steal **my treasures.** I train and hang out a lot with my dear roses. My dream is to surpass my brother and marry the girl of my dreams."

"Oi. Be serious." Obito deadpanned.

"I am serious."

It was Hinata's turn but she was trembling so much that Sakura just walked to her side and gently put her hand on her temple before releasing soothing chakra. A bright emerald light was emitted from her finger tips and the result was immediate. Hinata thanked her before speaking.

"Hyuga Hinata. I love my family and disapprove of bullies. I love making medicine and I hope to be able to unify my clan." She shyly declared.

"So it's Obito's team turn."

Katou took a step forward and began his introduction.

"I'm Uchiha Katou, I'd like to stay alive and I'd hate to die. I thrive to improve myself to avoid dying and my dream is to remain in one piece." They took some time to digest his words and wonder if the guy was joking with them. Katou sweatdropped and crossed his fingers. This introduction was directed at his fellow clansmen who looked ready to kill him when he heard which team he'd be on.

The other Hyuga looked down on the Uchiha and sneered." Hyuga Hikyo. There are few things I like and I dislike the rest. I train most of the time and I dream of freedom."

Sakura was stunned. She never ever thought they would be so open if one could say that about them, specially Hikyo. He did not look like the type to just speak about himself or even reveal his objectives but freedom was ambiguous so he kept a little of his mysterious aura. He flipped his pristine ponytail and waited for her to talk.

"Last one."Obito was staring at her hair.

"My name is Haruno Sakura. I like sweets and dislike spicy food. I have a lot of hobbies you don't have to know and...I will become the best medic in the world."She caught her braid in her hand."My hair color is natural."

"So, the test begins tomorrow at 5 am." Kakashi stated.

"Test? What test? We already passed the test." Katou replied.

"That was just to weed out the hopeless ones. This is the real test. Over 70% of the academy graduates usually fail so you better be ready." Obito responded.

"What?!"

"Yeah. You better not eat breakfast unless you want to puke." He grinned.

They vanished and the genins were left alone. Naruto walked out first and Sakura saw him join an anbu. Hikyo reluctantly followed Hinata who was watching Naruto go away and Katou took this moment to escape. Sasuke had focused his attention on Sakura.

"We're not on the same team."He was solemn for such a petty reason.

"It won't change a thing. Our new senseis are too close with each other.." Sasuke lit up and invited her to his house. She politely refused for once and went to the hospital without checkinf if anyone ad followed her.

She slowed down and took a deep breath.

"I'm here!" She came in.

"Oh Sakura! Good timing!"

Next to Shisui stood the famous Uchiha Itachi, Shisui's best friend and Sasuke's older brother. He was discussing with who she now recognized as Uchiha Madara.

"Meet Itachi and our ancestor, Madara."

"Nice to meet you Sakura-san." He greeted her while bowing. She bowed back.

"What a coincidence."Madara whispered, staring directly into her eyes." She looks just like my wife's younger self."

Shisui's eyes bulged out of their sockets while Itachi just let out a startled sound but it had to mean a lot judging by Shisui's face. Sakura had two options. Either she could walk out of the room and run for dear life for no reason, either she took the matter in her hands and attempt to resolve it. How could she look like the unknown wife of Uchiha Madara? It was unlikely with her outlandish exotic looks. As far as she knew the Uchiha clan was made of stuck up assholes and submissive but dangerous and vicious women.

"Are you sure you're not getting the colors wrong, Uchiha-sama?" She bluntly inquired.

He answered with an infuriating smirk." I think not."

Itachi and Shisui just observed the scene. Both of them were curious about their ancestor's mysterious wife because while Madara was pretty famous, his wife was never revealed, be it by name or appearance and the majority couldn't believe their ancestor settled down and had kids until the blood tests.

"I can't bring myself to ignore one who's practically the spitting image of my late wife. You're welcome to visit me at the Uchiha compound at any time." He brushed past her and left.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's note:**

 **Sorry for the wait and thank you all for reading my first story. Ok, that's too awkward. I'll just shut up.**

* * *

"Shisui, where's your blindfold?" She asked him."Since when can you even take it off?!" She eyed the piece of tissue at the side of the bed and stared.

They were still silent and looking at her like she was a new form of living being. She snapped her fingers in front of them and waited. After another long moment of silence she grumbled and kicked the foot of the bed.

She picked up his blindfold and threw it in his face. He yelped and caught it. Itachi was still unmoved and pierced her with his crimson eyes. She was no threat, he had no need to attack her so would asking him to turn his sharingan off be too much? She cringed when she saw them shift to the next phase. She looked back to Shisui who seemed fascinated by the sight of her hair. It had been a while since he last saw her. Four years to be exact. Her hair shifted with her movements and he caught himself fascinated by the color like the moment he first saw her.

"Are you alright?"She was frowning. He could tell this much through his blurry eyes.

"Ah yes." Her frown did not lessen. It gained on intensity.

"You know you shouldn't open your eyes." She masked his eyes from the harsh light with the blindfold and she did not have to see him to know he was pouting.

"But I wanted to see him. It's not everyday you can claim to have seen your ancestors."

"Ancestors? He's only one person." She turned her head to the side and arched an eyebrow.

"There's you." Itachi said seriously." From what he said you're now to be considered as an important guest, especially if you're the spitting image of his deceased wife. Hence ancestors and not ancestor."

"But we all know I'm not her! You both were born before me!" She yelled at his face.

"Well, you might have some of her blood…" Shisui did not finish his words.

"Was she even from a clan?"

"He might be able to tell you. We know as much as you about her." Itachi replied.

That did not help her in the least. Not only does she apparently have the same name as that woman if she guessed right from last night when he uttered her name but she also was her doppelganger.

"What a way to be introduced to each other Itachi-san." She muttered.

His expression changed and his face was impassive for a minute before he seemed to come to a conclusion."I am plenty surprised to know that my cousin is into young girls. I might have to show him the right way through training, right Shisui?" His eyes showed mirth.

Shisui waved his arms in the air and denied it."What?! I'm not! I'm really not!"

"Am I so unattractive that you could never look at me this way?" Sakura retorted with a vulnerable voice while smirking.

"You, you're too young! You should not try to appeal to boys! I won't let them get to you!"

"And now he gets jealous." Itachi continued.

"She's like my little sister! There's no way I'll let those ungrateful brats near her!" Shisui was beginning to get up to beat the so called ungrateful brats.

Sakura burst out laughing and was soon joined by Itachi who couldn't stop a few chuckles from escaping after having seen Shisui's shocked face.

They never noticed the slight clenching of her fists or the subtle way her eyes narrowed.

It was already the end of the afternoon when she got out of the hospital and it was way too late for lunch. She could always eat dinner but she wondered if she shouldn't heed to Obito-sensei's warning. She could always skip dinner but skipping breakfast was out of question. She didn't want to puke but she also didn't want to feel hungry. She had it hard with her finances but she knew food equaled energy and energy was a requirement for tomorrow.

She bumped into a pole and winced. She finally paid attention to her surroundings and groaned facing the sky.

The next morning she donned her new outfit with pride and glee. The old black tank she bought was changed into a chest bidding that she hid with her green jacket and fishnet. As for bottom, she only put on her leggings with new high knee boots. The only thing that couldn't blend with nature was her hair but that's what her hood was for. The thing was enough to over half her face. She felt more like a ninja than a wannabe, unlike before.

She took her time to digest her breakfast and told herself it wouldn't matter if she was late since her team and the on the other one had waited a long time yesterday.

The training ground was sadly empty just as she predicted but her teammates were there. The others didn't count.

"Hi everyone." She gave a little salute. She was given back a lot of glares.

"You're late." The idiot was deeply implied there and no one could miss it.

"Hikyo...Don't." Katou eyed Sasuke with concern.

Sakura put her hand in front of her." Before you start on your rant that I can feel coming from a mile away, you really thought they were gonna be here on time?" She was met with silence and nodded her head." That's what I thought."

She sat down on the grass and relaxed. She regarded her surrounding with cold calculation. While she could put a lot of traps it would waste her amount of weapons and it would mean she'd be less armed. If put in a dangerous situation, it could become a disadvantage. She had to work with someone to decrease her bad odds. There was also the question of their two teams. Were they gonna pass individually or in teams? She did not think two teams would be evaluated together.

The sun was shining brightly in the sky and no sign of their senseis.

"ARRRGGHHH!"

"Dobe lost it." Sasuke deadpanned.

Sakura looked away and saw Katou with a constipated face.

"Uchiha-san? Are you alright?"She asked.

He peered at her face and gave her a small hn.

"I remember them."

"Oh?"

He stood up from his spot and sat next to her." They never passed anyone."

"That's quite worrisome though I wonder if that's not because they never got there in time for the test." She picked a small pebble and threw it as far as she could from her position.

"That might be questionable." He gave her a small smirk.

Seriously, she wondered why people said the Uchiha clan was filled with unfeeling cold bastards who're power obsessed freaks. They just seemed a little arrogant.

They appeared while they were talking and they found themselves grouped with their teams.

"Wake up, bunch of lazy ass!"Obito-sensei howled out.

"You're the one who's late, lazy ass!" Naruto bawled.

Her team moved to another training ground.

"So, you have to get the bells right here." He jingled the golden bells right in front of their faces and grinned. There was only two of them. Sakura noticed how vague he was with his instruction but the other two were too focused in getting them to carefully proceed his words.

They began the second he told them to start. They all hid themselves and waited for their sensei to make a move but he disappeared with a puff of smoke.

They all got separated. She was hidden at the top of a tree and looked out for her teammates. She saw a giant ball of fire at the clearing and waited a little before jumping in the ground without a sound. She ran and caught a glimpse of black hair. She changed direction and headed for it. She saw Hikyo's head sticking out of the ground with an afro. He looked kind of fried.

"Pff!" She crawled away while trying to stop laughing. She had to try to help him but he was so funny. He was also easier to bear around like that. A finger tapped her shoulder and she turned her head.

"Oups."

"Yeah. Oups."Her sensei pulled her into a genjutsu and she faded.

" _Sakura!Sakura! Wake up! Please!" She felt herself being held by a pair of strong arms._

"Kai!" She brought her hands together and disrupted her chakra. " What kind of illusion is that?"Her vision became clearer and she found herself alone in the middle of a clearing.

"Where am I?"

* * *

"Hn" Katou looked at the afro with a stoic glare and restrained his laugh tightly at the back of his throat.

"You're no better brat." Obito mumbled from his spot.

The fresh genins were tied up to poles with ropes while their sensei was lying against a tree. He was currently waiting for the last genin to move because he couldn't remember where he last put her. He was kind of disappointed when she didn't free herself from such a simple genjutsu, for a genjutsu type. Maybe he was too harsh.

"Don't look so surprised. I'm an Uchiha, I can understand all the meanings of 'hn'."

"Hn?!"

"Uchiha, shut up." Hikyo said next to him.

They waited and waited until Obito couldn't bear it anymore and got up.

"I can't even take a break."

The two boys had the urge to shout. What break? The guy has been napping since he tied them up. He couldn't complain about taking a break when it's what he's been doing since the start.

Hikyo heard a ruffle from behind his pole and his ropes suddenly got loose. It was soon followed by Katou's ropes and they both watched their female teammate setting traps. She had taken out some wires and laid a seal in the middle of it.

"Guys, get ready to run." She looked at them one last tied and made signs for them to follow her. They had already been caught so they had no choice but to believe in her.

She activated the seal and ran. The area they had been in exploded and Obito got distracted from the noise. He turned back and ran to his last spot. They had escaped. He nearly tripped over a wire and smirked. They were not as hopeless as he had estimated.

The team was hidden on top of the trees with Sakura in the middle.

"Anyone got a plan?" She asked and received silence."Ok...Have you picked up any of his weakness?" She sighed and laid her head between her hands." Why me?"

"Tell your strong points and weak points. We'll begin from there." She pointed at the Hyuga and for once he didn't scoff.

"Close range, long range." Katou and Sakura watched him try to tame his hair back to the way it was.

That's all he had to say. Was he waiting for them to dissect his sentence and guess? Sakura looked at the branch and wondered if it would be considered murder if she were to break it from beneath him. If he got hurt from the fall it would not be her fault. It would be blamed on his weight, right?

"Please tell me you have a better vocabulary than that." She pleaded with her other teammate.

"I'm good at fire jutsu and weak against…"

"Hohoho! You won't have time for that." They all jumped and glanced at the ground. Here he was in all his glory.

"Uchiha! Throw the fanciest fire jutsu you have! I'll distract him!" Hikyo shouted and charged. He took Sakura's hand and threw her in the air.

She did not have the time to wonder where he got his strength from. She landed behind all her sensei and hid her chakra as best as she could. She did not have to be a genius to understand he wanted her to get the bells. That had to be why he didn't tell her to do anything. It would be like telling their target what they planned to do and that was beyond stupid.

She saw Katou gather air and got ready to jump.

"Katon, Housenka no justu!"

Hikyo placed his palm just above Obito's tenketsu and waited for him to avoid the blow. Obito's hands were busy performing signs and Sakura took the opportunity to switch his bells with rocks. Hikyo missed his mark but it all went according to his plan. She immediately handed them to Hikyo and let herself be seen and get caught.

"We passed!" She shouted.

"What do you mean?" Obito didn't look at her but tightened his grip on her.

Katou caught the bell thrown at him. Obito's eyes narrowed ad he peered at his belt. He cursed.

"You passed but the young lady didn't." He grinned." You'll have to go back to the academy little one."

"No way! I helped them get the bells! You never said anything about having to get one for each person!" Sakura yelled right next to his ears. She felt vindicated when she saw him wince.

"You don't have the bell so that's pointless."

Katou approached them and put his bell on Sakura's palm." She passed."

"Brats, all of you. You better be happy I went easy on you guys." He harrumphed and handed Sakura to Katou who barely caught her.

They couldn't believe he went easy on them judging by Hikyo's hair. The latter one was currently trying to kill him with a glare.

"Can one of you tell me the purpose of this test?"

"Protect your hair?"

"Hn." Katou nodded and fiddled with his ponytail.

"I'll kill you."

"Why did I get the hair freaks?" Obito facepalmed.

"I'll shave your head old man." Hikyo took out a kunai. Sakura took a hold of the kunai and shook her head.

"You won't feel satisfied. You have to die his hair blonde, it'll be better."

"Hn."

"See? Even Uchiha-san approves."

"I will."

"Oi! Don't ignore me!"Obito shouted at them." It's not like you'll be able to. I fended Naruto since he began his pranks. You think you can do better than him?"

Their looks said it all; They totally underestimated him.

"Fufufu! You wanna see?" Sakura looked down on him from a tree branch above them.

"No...Wait! When did you get up there?!"He rubbed his temples. It did not lessen his headache." Teamwork, dimwits!"

"Uchiha-san, is it usual for your clan members to lose their minds?" Sakura asked.

"Hm."

"I see."

"Haruno." Hikyo regarded her with interest.

"Yes?" She turned to him.

"How can you understand them? Were you so close to them for you to get used to it?" She did not miss what he meant.

"I'm not going out with any of them." She frowned.

Katou watched his sensei getting snubbed beautifully. The transaction was so smooth that his presence remained ignored.

"I hope bakakashi succeeded where I failed." Little did he know he got the better end of the deal.

"Listen!" He grabbed Katou." Kill Hyuga or I'll kill Haruno!"

"Ok." Katou raised his hand and was about to move when he was stopped by Obito.

"Ok, I deserved this one."He frowned and felt his wrinkles increasing.

"Sensei, it's practically suicide. I thought the Hyuga and Uchiha didn't get along. They still don't."She kicked the trunk.

"Politics." He grunted.

"And I should just open a bakery. It'd be much easier." Sakura deadpanned ad jumped off her spot.

"Can you make dangos?" Obito asked. They drifted off to talk about her plans if she had to give up on her current career.

"It's getting out of hand."

"For once I agree with you Uchiha."

"I wanted to say that teamwork is extremely important. It's a matter of life and death. You not only have to get stronger but also rely on your teammates to cover for your weakness. That's why you get formed into teams."He sprouted it like he was talking about the weather."You get tired of repeating it after the 10th time. You don't care about things like timing anymore."

"I know." She paused."Like I know there's something really wrong for Katou to already be able to perform what he did and how Hyuga-san was cooperative for more than 3 seconds."

Obito smirked and headed back to the other two. Sakura jogged back to them.

They were freed for the rest of the day. Sakura peered at her teammates and wondered if inviting them for dinner was a good idea. It was seriously awkward. She had never spoken to them before yesterday and they were all not sociable.

"Hum..." _Whoosh._ Her braid flipped and slapped her in the face. She stayed silent."Nevermind." She slowly left the training grounds with her teammates' eyes trailing after her.

She glanced upwards and saw an orange cloud being chased by a white blur. She rubbed her eyes and looked back. She was more tired than she thought. Her pouch was disturbingly light. A slight turn to the blacksmith might be a good idea. She walked around the village and stopped. There was a green blob with two black caterpillars adorned like accessories. She went back on her steps and rushed to her flat.

"This year, is not my year." Her stomach growled in response.

She took out her wallet and cringed. She feared counting her money. She didn't want to be in the red but she had to know.

"Just open it."

She slowly grazed the zipper and grasped it with the tip of her fingers. The content seemed to shine but the moment it got back to normal she slapped it. The coins rolled on the floor but there was no sign of bills.

 _"I can't bring myself to ignore one who's practically the spitting image of my late wife. You're welcome to visit me at the Uchiha compound at any time." He brushed past her and left._

"Discard your pride, food is more important."

 _ **There's only food in your mind woman. I don't see any pride.**_

 _Food is life._

…

 _I know._

"I should use my looks for something, it'd be just like training for future missions." She unconsciously said out loud.

 _ **You want to seduce him?! You?! Seduce one of the founder of the village?!**_

"Our pink hair finally has a reason to exist! We have to get a thing out of it!"

 _ **Hmph! Dress formally.**_

 _...Fuck!_

 _ **Third drawer on the left. Get to the bottom.**_

 _?_

She strolled to her bedroom and opened the drawer. She plunged her arm deep inside and gripped a long piece of cloth.

 _What's that?_

 _ **White long sleeved dress. The only dress you have.**_

 _I had one?!Thank you Inner! Ah wait, that's skin tight._

 _ **You are a beggar, you don't get to choose.**_

 _It's annoying when I can't deny your claims._

She too off her her clothes and threw them on her bed.

 _Shower._

 _ **Of course. Get moving. Pour the scented one.**_

 _Yes sir!_

She quickly dressed and her braid was forgone. She pulled on a light red sweater on her way out. Her front door was slammed closed and she ran to the Uchiha compound.

 _ **Slow down! You don't want to look winded, idiot.**_

She changed her pace and looked around. It would not do for her to be noticed by people she knew. Sasuke was to be avoided at all cost.

 _Oh shit! There's also Katou!_

 _ **Blame yourself for your stupidity.**_

She could see guards at the entrance and hesitated. They would not let her pass through them without knowing her, right? She gathered her courage and dragged her feetuntil she was in front of them.

"Halt! State your name and purpose!" The one on the right shouted.

 _Seriously?_

 _ **You could have bypassed them.**_

 _I won't infiltrate their territory. I don't want to go to jail._

 _ **I didn't.**_

 _You're an uncaught criminal._

"Haruno Sakura."

A hint of recognition flashed in their eyes and they did not let her finish before escorting her deeper into unknown territory. They got replaced by another set of guards who watched her wearily. She his herself between the two and gathered her hair to put it inside the sweater. She waited for a familiar face to show up but for now everything was going smoothly. The houses were getting more spectacular the deeper they got in. She had a sense of doom clinging to her.

They finally stopped in front of an obscure path.

"We can't go further. Just walk without taking any detour." The same guard warned her. His comrade was silent.

 _It's for food! Don't give up!_

She was growing more scare the more she advanced. The wind whistled which made her jump every once in a while. The Uchiha vicinity was damn big, it was like another city within the village. She caught a glimpse of a roof and sped up.

She gasped. The house in itself was ordinary but the nature seemed to have fused with its foundations. Vines were running on the walls with few flowers blooming along. It was impossible to get a view of the inside as it looked protected by the greenery.

The door opened wide and she got blinded by the lightened interior. Her hesitation disappeared and she walked inside. She was welcomed by a whiff of food and her mouth watered. She was bewitched into going after this delicious scent. She was brought back by the sound of a chuckle and blushed. She glimpsed at the room. It was a simple dining room with a table filled with food. She trailed her gaze to all this dreamy sight until she got to the end of the table.

Here he was, dressed in a simple grey yukata, chopsticks in his hands. A man was seated to his left. He looked a lot like Shisui.

"Excuse me for the intrusion."Sakura bowed.

"Don't worry and take a seat. I'm sure you have to be hungry." Madara waved his hand.

She would say he looked relaxed but by the unknown man's face it was highly unusual. She sat across the man and peered at Madara. She turned her head to the side when she was caught. The unknown man coughed.

"Is she the one you were talking about Madara-sama?" Even his voice sounded like Shisui's.

"Hn." Madara sipped his cup. Sakura stared at the bottle. She was sure it was sake.

"You look a little too young to drink, young lady." The man across her noted.

"Ah. I wasn't trying to do so." She didn't know how to act around the two strangers.

"Sakura-san, right? You might know my son, he talked a lot about you."

She raised her head, startled by the statement. He simply smiled at her. It was weird how fast it put her at ease.

"I'm Kagami, Shisui's father."

Hr eyes widened and it became clear to her why they looked so alike. It was uncanny how their smile were so similar. It was why she felt calm so quickly with his smile. She looked back to Madara.

"Is there a reason for your coming here?" He kindly asked. They ignored the sound of chopsticks dropping.

"I-I wanted to ask for help to find a job." She tried to hide her face behind her bangs.

"A job? You're a genin, right? Why would you try to find one?" She could literately see the arch of his eyebrow.

"I need money to sustain myself and my fund is gonna be revoked with my promotion." She avoided his stare.

"I see." She felt relieved when he didn't ask for more details." And how would I be able to help you?"

She was out of ideas. She glanced everywhere but at time when she met Kagami's eyes.

"If I were to find a solution for your clan's growing blindness, will your clan back me up?"

Kagami gasped." Who told you?" She immediately replied." I studied Shisui's eyes."

Madara regarded her with contemplation. "You're talking big right now. I could give you the funds for you to take care of yourself without this."

"I will be able to take the medic test in a month and I have already done a lot of research in the subject. I don't feel good taking money from someone without giving anything in return. More and more people are beginning to notice the increasing retirements of your active clansmen. It would not be good if your clan was to weaken because it would mean the village's defenses would also take a blow."She continued." I might be talking big but it's better than nothing."

Madara took another sip while Kagami poured another cup.

"Bring your research and we'll talk about it."

They dinned in silence and she bid them good night before leaving.

She dug herself into a hole but she did no regret it. She finally had a chance to heal Shisui's eyes. On her way back home she was distracted by seeing Obito-sensei arguing with a pretty brown haired woman. She got closer to them and masked her presence.

"...You don't even look at me anymore! What did I do?!" The woman cried out. She gripped his jacket.

"What did you do?!" He slapped her hand away and passed a hand through his short mane." You think I don't know how you tried to cheat on me with Kakashi behind my back?!" He shouted. He stepped back a little." I don't love you, I can't love you anymore. Seeing you disgusts me." He walked away passing by Sakura. She was surprised he didn't notice her but he had to have been too distraught.

The woman collapsed to the ground in tears. Sakura felt out of place. She should have just continued to walk. She ran away before being caught watching by the woman.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

She surveyed the mess that was her bedroom. She dug all the papers she wrote about theories on how to possibly restore eyes that was inhabited by a bloodline limit. The stacks threatened to swallow her whole to never be seen again. It was a sea or more like a wave by how she organized them. She didn't even have the tact to take the impossible theories out of it. It would have been too long but she had to sort through the sea of papers to determine her future salary.

After some long hours of tidying up her stacks she slumped on her bed and closed her eyes. Sleep came to her like a soft caress. She was waken up by a knock on her door. She whipped the drool that escaped her mouth and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth. She didn't even change from her dress which resulted in it being creased everywhere. She stalked to her door and opened it.

There was no one in here. She looked down and saw a small paper getting ready to be carried away by the wind. She quickly snatched it and closed the door behind her. She flipped the paper and groaned.

 **Bitch,**

 **Don't forget our warning or you'll get what's coming for you**

The upside down of being acquainted with good looking guys, being stalked and gotten rid of by their not so potential future lovers. She had to wonder about their rank because any civilian would have been obliterated by the competition. Her clock rang and she forced herself to get off the floor. She was nowhere near finished and she had to meet her team in less than an hour.

* * *

The first thing she noticed when she approached them was how calm it was. There was no flaunting or insults flying around. Was the end of the cold rivalry between the Uchiha and Hyuga really coming? Obito-sensei had yet to come which made her relieved. Would you really be able to look at your teacher's face when you kind of spied on him just the night before?

"Hi." She hesitated to go between them but just gave up and laid down.

Katou pushed himself to stand up before bowing right in front of her.

"Good morning, Sakura-hime." He kept his head down and didn't move.

She immediately searched for an explanation from her teammate but a simple glance at him told her how disturbed he was by such a behavior.

"People get strange around you, Haruno. I don't get why." Hikyo uttered after a long silence.

"I want to deny it but I feel like I would be lying to myself." She turned her head to the opposite side and nudged Katou's shoulder. He raised his head and saw how she wasn't even looking at him. Their teacher appeared and he was forced to get up.

"Be happy, kiddos. It's your first mission." Hi voice was dropping with sarcasm.

They eyed him warily. One hour later and they knew how right they were to be leery. They went from holding groceries to taking care of babies to gardening and so on so forth. They snapped after two weeks of menial labor.

"Are you mocking us?" Hikyo growled after getting his hair cut because it got fried once again. Beside him Sakura was watching her bento moving with something akin to disdain. She was sure she did not pack a purple moving blob. She saw a cockroach get sucked onto it. How did a cockroach get in her lunch?

"Sakura-hime? Did you try cooking your lunch? Take mine, I'll get rid of yours!"Katou exclaimed and went off with her food. A vein visibly popped on her forehead.

 _ **Kill him.**_

There was a first time for everything. And for the first time Sakura decided to retaliate. Poisoning her food was a big no-no. It had been such a filing bento, she had thrown her fruits to the side for once in a long while to eat meat but they dared ruin it with their petty attempt to end her.

"Drop the honorific or die by my hands." She patiently brought up when he came back.

"I cannot."

"Well, say hello to your death." She threw the wood sticks with precision but he easily dodged."Tch!"

"Katou, she's your teammate, not your princess." Obito intervened.

"You can fly under the radar, I can't."Katou simply stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"What?"Obito incredulously asked.

"..."

"Obito-sensei, when will we be finished for the day?" She picked up Katou's lunch box and ate.

"One more mission and I'll let you go for the rest of the day."

"Good."

* * *

This altar was creepy. Plain disturbing. She shivered in disgust. Was that blood on one of the walls? Now she swore she saw a suspicious summoning circle. She hoped it was just superstition and not some kind of forbidden jutsu. She placed the camera she temporarily _borrowed_ and took photos of the crime scene.

She fumbled with her pouch and took out a match. She could give back the stolen underwear but the unknown factors of how it was used was too risky to let those clothes continue to exist. She tucked away the camera and lit up the match.

"Sayonara fuckers." She threw the match on the biggest picture which consisted of Itachi changing his shirt, how they accomplished that she had no idea, and jumped away. She put off the fire before it became too prominent.

A few hours after her stunt, several cries were heard.

"First step is a success." The pyromaniac cackled and threw pieces of jewelry on the street, none of it was hers.

She failed to notice Hikyo witnessing her acts from beginning, hiding at a safe distance. He learned an important lesson this day. Don't get on her bad side.

* * *

"Flower, block section C, the target is getting close." Katou whispered in his earpiece.

"Roger. Blind, take section A." Sakura crouched and waited.

"Ponytail, give chase." Hikyo jumped at the top of a fence and tightened his grip on the net.

"Now!" Katou aka ponytail sped up leading the cat to run faster and to pay attention to its surroundings.

Katou ran and cornered the target while Sakura pounced making it jump. Hikyo swung the net and landed softly. He slammed the net against the ground and Katou took out the bag.

"He won't escape, mission complete." They went to the hokage tower and showed their prey. A big woman showed up and proceeded to show her constant worry for the orange fluff ball.

"How come Tora is not dead? This cat should have knocked over a long time ago." Obito mumbled behind them.

They receiver their pay and let the cat be tortured by his owner. They were dismissed and walked off.

"It's bonding time." They all looked at Obito like he was a deranged crazy man.

"Don't look at me like that, you never went out together from the start and that just won't do."

"Sensei, how could we bond? We don't share any hobbies except for training." Sakura replied.

"Do you train together? No, so listen to your sensei." He patted the top of her head. He loved how fluffy and soft her hair felt under his calloused hand.

Sakura pointed to Hikyo,"Clan." She turned to Katou,"Clan." She finished with herself."No clan." She looked up and waited for his verdict.

"I'm sure they can handle their clan training and their team training." He ruffled her hair. She slapped his hand away."Your goal is to land a hit on me. If you don't, I'll chase you starts now." He disappeared in the blink of an eye.

They looked at their now linked hands and stared. They were linked with seals and no one of them was a fuinjutsu specialist.

"When did he..."

"We're stuck." Hikyo blankly said.

"Hn."

* * *

After getting a handle of their restricted movements they searched for their sensei.

"Oi! That's a tree you charging!" Sakura screeched.

"What are you talking about?!" _Boom_

"We lost Katou!"

"Move you useless garbage!"

"But he's out cold!"

"We'll move him!"

They dodged the explosion set on their path and let Katou's clothes take fire.

"Hum, Hyuga-san, he's on fire."

"He's an Uchiha, they're fireproof."

"..."

'Urghh."

"He's waking up..." She deadpanned at Hikyo.

A branch flew off and Katou was out cold again.

"He's not."

"You attacked him with a branch!"

"He uses fire too much, he'll get us spotted."

"Where are you dragging him?!"

"I'm hiding him."

"In the thorns!"She closed her eyes." Why are you in the middle?"

They were still at it during the night. They finally caught Obito when he was taking a nap. They came back home with their muscles screaming in pain. Katou felt a lot of blanks in their training. He couldn't remember what happened when he slammed against a thick tree.

Sakura opened her door and saw the mess. She closed her door and smacked her head on it. She reopened and saw no change.

 _It won't go away, this painful illusion._

 _ **You know they're still waiting for the papers.**_

 _Fuck._ _I have to pass the exam in less than 3 days._

 _ **Don't forget the Uchiha.**_

...

…

 _Tomorrow._

It was early in the morning when she grabbed her files and headed to the Uchiha compound. She took a deep breath and passed the guards. They didn't stop her and she headed straight for Madara's house. She carefully protected her files from getting stained or stopped in her steps. She was sweating profusely.

 _What if he's still sleeping?! What do I do? What do I do?!WHAT DO I DO!_

 _ **Shut up! People are sleeping in there!**_

She knocked on the door.

She knelt on the ground and shook her head from side to side. She couldn't do it. She felt way too embarrassed. She was just a preteen pretending to be smart. How could she ever say she could make a change? She was just a genin and she had no credentials. The only reason she had a chance was because she looked like a dead woman who happened to have married a powerhouse whose clan is famous throughout all the land. This woman is crazy.

Wasn't she just appearing strange? Kneeling in the ground and shaking her head like a maniac. She was sure he already detected her. She had no place for things such as fear or courage. She had no opportunity for that. She stood up and ignored the dirt sticking to her. She lifted her stack and waited. She did not have to wait long before he opened and let her in. She couldn't remember anything from the place except for the delicious dishes. She hoped he would not mention her obvious lateness.

He directed her to the living room and left her for a moment. He came back with some tea and she let herself relax with the soothing drink. Her eyes drifted off to him. He was currently flicking through what she would later call the stress inducer.

Hr mind seemed to shut down and she was transfixed by his deep obsidian eyes. Her eyes urged her to look down, at the partly undone yukata to watch his delicious collarbone giving a glimpse of sculpted abs. Ah no! She looked!

 _Delicious?! My hormones are out of control! I won't let him be the Sasuke to my inner! Calm yourself! He's so much older than you that's not funny so no weird business!_

How could she find herself attracted to an old man? Her hormones suddenly jumped on her after remaining dormant for the first twelve years of her life. If the woman she looked like was crazy then so was she. Why were the Uchiha men all eye candies? Her eyes threatened to burn when she thought of Shisui's attractiveness. Thinking about Itachi and Sasuke like that was utterly wrong.

Madara had finished reading while Sakura was lost in her impure thoughts. Her blush was almost visible.

 _I cannot let my weaknesses get the better of me!_

She did not notice him watching her so she missed the little smile he unconsciously displayed. He could almost read her mind. It was like a replay of how he came to know his wife except she older and less damaged by reality. She had yet to experience war though she already knew how it felt to lose her precious people. He disliked letting her live alone to take care of herself when he could do so but he had to give her space. She was not his wife but if she was like her then she wouldn't appreciate the gesture.

Sakura snapped out of her daydreaming and finally noted he was waiting for her. A large load of apologises launched out of her mouth.

"While it's interesting and may be tested, it lacks details and information and it relies on perfect chakra control which has not been mastered by anyone. To sum it up, it's lacking." Cue the blow straight in the heart.

What did she expect? It couldn't be perfect and she still had years to learn before she could be considered as an expert. She hung her head down and waited for him to dismiss her.

"But if you want to get better, I can get you a teacher."He continued.

She was stunned he did not outright rejected her. There was a limit to how kind he was to her. She was not oblivious to the terrified gazes the members of this clan sometimes gave her. That was not natural. She paused. It might do her some good to be taught instead of having to do it alone but she had to trust her teacher.

"Who would you recommend?"

"Hn. That remains to be seen."He frowned and let his gaze wander behind her.

"Is it possible to know who you'd choose before accepting?"She nearly gave into the urge to fiddle with her fingers. Oh stress, when you take hold of us…

"It would be a wise decision." Should she say something? The silence made her uncomfortable.

A huge noise coming from the entrance distracted them and the door was smashed, splintering the wood and making the door come out of its hinges that Sakura did not notice were there until this very moment.

"Mada-chan!" Hashirama shouted.

"Shut up!" Madara pounced out of his seat and bonked Hashirama's head." My name is Madara! Don't give me nicknames!"

"But!"

"Don't pout! It's disgusting!"

"You're so cruel!" He pouted more.

Sakura was perplexed. She wanted to laugh but she didn't want to laugh at the same time. They looked like they were gonna continue for a while so she drank her tea in silence. She heard more screaming before something crashed on the floor and a chair went on fire. The floor got unsteady and wood shot out of it. She wondered why she did not feel more panicked. The scene was strangely comforting.

"I'm not alone, you idiot."Madara leaned back against her chair and she shrank back and pivoted to the side to keep from touching him.

"Oh?" Hashirama looked around for a presence. Why did he still have his red armor?

"Yes oh."

Sakura barely contained her shriek when she felt herself be taken around the waist and raised in the air. Madara tucked her head under his chin and her feet were dangling in the air. She desperately wanted to feel the ground under her feet. There was a faint smell of incense coming from Madara and she instantly relaxed. She chose not to dwell any further on his smell. She did not want to pick the small details that made his scent so irresistible to females. She blamed him for the shojo tinted filter she had since coming to his house.

"Look, you scared her." Madara's hair clouded her body from Hashirama's view making her appear smaller than she was. She was handled like a teddy bear.

"Ah, I'm sorry!" Hashirama instantly went into depressed mode. "Wait, isn't that the small sakura spirit from before?" The gloomy atmosphere was gone faster than it appeared.

 _What? Sakura spirit?_

 _ **He smoked.**_

 _He did more than smoke._

"What?"Madara reacted.

"Well, it's just that her hair and eyes made me think of sakura trees in full bloom." _What precision..._

Sakura waited for Madara to deny it but she got a laugh that made his entire body vibrate instead. She felt the vibrations throughout her whole body and it made her painfully aware of her feet still touching nothing.

"We were busy, you know." Madara stopped laughing to take a more serious tone though it lost its effectiveness with the small chuckles he left out periodically.

"Busy?"

"I'm trying to find a medic nin to teach her." Sakura's eyes widened but her chin kept her from raising her head to stare at him incredulously. Why was he telling him?

"Why don't I do it?" Hashirama had the fabulous idea to volunteer.

If Sakura thought she couldn't handle one founder then she was on a death path with the second one. How she came from having no close friends and chasing off the persistent guys to being trapped between powerful ninjas, she did not want to discover it.

"Sakura, do you agree?"

Was Madara talking to her? Was she even allowed to refuse such an offer? That was the first hokage offering to teach a newbie like her, not just a no name jounin whose name she wouldn't necessarily remember. She nodded, bonking her head against Madara's chin but the latter wasn't bothered by it.

"Perfect!" Hashirama clapped his hands."What's your name?" The guy did not do things in the right order and it disturbed her.

"Haruno Sakura." She grumbled.

"Hm. That's easy to guess." _Thank you, captain obvious._

"It's settled. The idiot over there will teach you. Tell me if he bothers you."Madara put her down and gave a peck on her slightly bigger than average forehead.

Her mind exploded and could not proceed the action. Her thoughts were scattered everywhere and she was sure her face was bright red. Hashirama came over and patted her hair.

"That was overkill, Madara."

"Overkill is effective."He crossed his arms and acquiesced to himself.

Sakura was hanging by a thread. She felt like a giant puddle of goo.

"Now, I'll escort her home."Madara was about to grab her when a hand stopped him from accomplishing his goal.

"Let her take a break." Hashirama shushed at him and lead Sakura by the shoulders. The poor girl had yet to recover from shock.

They were in the middle of the compound when she recovered her senses and she immediately regretted it. Hashirama was humming under his breath and remained unmoved by the whispers and pointed fingers. They were not even trying to be subtle.

Sakura stopped breathing when her eyes crossed with Katou's. Hie was gobsmacked and his jaw was hanging down. She turned her head and sped up.

"Shit." She whispered under her breath.

"Is something wrong?" Hashirama bent down to her eye level.

"N-no." By the look on his face he did not believe her for a second.

 _Please not Sasuke. Please not Sasuke._

 _ **Oh look Sasuke!**_

 _Where?!_

 _ **I'm joking.**_

 _I hate you._

They were near the exit when a familiar face was in her line of sight. Inner was not wrong and she hated it. For a joke, that was not funny when it became real. Maybe she was too harsh but she did not like playboys.

"Hey Saku-tan." He was unusually subdued. His smile was not as blinding as what she was used to.

 _No, girl. You're not worried about him._

 _ **You are.**_

 _..._

Hashirama tapped her shoulder and left her with who he thought was her friend. She did not rectify his view and moved closer to Sasuke.

"Hey…are you alright?" She rose her hand and checked his temperature. His forehead wasn't that hot. She compared with hers but felt no difference.

Sasuke blushed."Yeah."

She arched an eyebrow and asked once again." Are you alright?"

"Hn." He lowered his eyes and did not say anything else.

Sakura sighed. She was going to do something she would regret but it was better than letting him down in pity. She grabbed him by the arm and left the compound. He already knew where she lived so she went to her flat and settled him on a chair. She left to the kitchen and prepared a cup of tea. She had some homemade dango leftovers so she took them out of the fridge. She got back to him and handed him a plate and the cup.

He looked blankly at the content and looked back at her."Itachi?"

"Hm?"

He took a stick and chomped on a ball." Nothing."

She sat down and put her arm against the kitchen table. She leaned her head against her hand and lazily watched him eat."How's your team?"

"...Fine."

"Ok. Where are your lambs?" She bit her tongue at the last word.

"Mourning. Their headquarters got vandalized." She ignored the voice that told her she was guilty. She was rather vindicated.

"Got a reason to be like that?" She gestured at him.

Grabbing a second stick, he gulped down with the tea and stalled as long as he could. Sakura did not have the patience to get him to talk amiably. She took the last stick and chewed on the food.

"Talk. I don't want to get killed for your sad mood."

"?" His eyes finally cleared out of their dormant state and she could almost see a question point above his head.

"Don't ask about it." She tapped her nails against the table and glared at him."I don't know how to comfort you so you better cooperate." She flinched when his eyes suddenly lit up.

"Do you think we can change teams?"

"Hm, except if your teammates die then no. Don't get bad ideas." She cleared the table and cleaned the dishes.

"Saku-tan."

She turned off the tap and got back to her seat."Yeah?"

"Why did you stop talking to me? Why did you stop waiting for me at the academy? Why did you stop hanging out with me?"

 _Too heavy, too soon and one question at a time, please. Do you think I can go to the hospital now?_

 _ **Stop getting distracted and answer.**_

She peered at the clock and jumped. It was nearing 8 am and she had a meeting with her team for _special_ training. Sasuke did not look like he would get better if left alone. She walked up to him and put her hand above his head, just barely touching his spikes.

"It's for me to know and you to find out."Silence."If you feel conflicted, just train and go back on your tracks. Now shoo, I gotta go."

He left and she quickly took her reviewing notes for the exam. She ran to the hospital and knocked on the open door. There was a woman talking to Shisui.

"I'm nearly finished, you'll be able to take off the blindfold soon." A kind feminine voice said. It was familiar.

"Thank you Rin-san." Shisui's smile was so bright. It's been years since she last saw him give it. This easy going smile that you couldn't help but smile back when you saw it.

She recognized the woman she spied getting into a dispute with her sensei. She was dressed like a nurse. Was she a medic nin? They both turned to Sakura and she cleared her throat. Shisui recognized the sound and beckoned her over but she did not move. Rin left them alone and slowly walked out of the corridor. Sakura did not looked away from her until she was out of view.

"Sakura?"

"Sorry, I'm late."

"Don't worry."

"I don't have time to stay so I just passed to say hello." Her notes crippled in her hands.

"Is that so? Well, see you later."

"Yeah. Bye." She got out of the hospital and threw her crippled her notes to the nearest trash bin.

"Bye." She walked to the meeting place earlier than planned.


	6. Chapter 6

"You should not throw your work away so easily." A smooth voice sounded to Sakura's ears eliciting her to turn around.

She tilted her head to the side. She instantly recognized the yondaime and wondered why he would take his time to talk to her.

"What do you mean by my _work,_ hokage-sama?"

He cocked an eyebrow." Is it not?"

"Just scribbles, nothing worth keeping." She was gonna resume her walking but she stopped when she saw him take her papers back from the bin. He quickly read them over and looked at her straight in the eyes.

"It does not look like scribbles."

"Why does it matter to you?" She was aware she was currently being disrespectful with one of the hokage of her village but she hated when people butted in her stuff.

"Because you seem sad." He silently flashed before her eyes and she did not even have the time to register he was in front of her until he put his hand atop her head.

Her eyes widened and she raised her head so quickly that the crack of her neck could be heard. She was stunned by the aura that his smile emitted. He was like pure positive energy. She could see no pity in his eyes nor disappointment though she wondered why she expected that from him. He gently patted her head and waited for her to go through whatever turmoil she was in that reflected in her eyes. When she looked back at him he just smiled and let her take back her notes. She thanked him so quietly that he had to strain his ears to understand what she said. She bowed and ran away.

She was too far to hear him sigh.

"What a coincidence." Minato looked in the direction of the hospital and wondered why the child was so engraved on his mind. It was like he saw her somewhere but he couldn't recall where and when. He got back to chat he was previously doing and tried to track the orange blur speeding on the streets.

Sakura was still running, she could feel the strain in her lungs but she kept going. She felt like her heart was gonna beat out of her chest. She tried to clear her mind but the image of this Rin as engraved at the back of her head. Her heart was loathing at the sound of the woman's voice. She gritted her teeth and slammed her back against her tree the moment she sensed no presence near her location. She was out of breath .

"Tch." She let herself slip to the ground and looked at the sky. It was still early and she had time to go back home and get ready but she didn't want to.

She had never expected anyone to witness this moment but she was caught red handed by one of the resurrected hokage. She was sure he had no idea of what this was about but the tip of her ears still reddened.

She was gonna be late if she waited any longer so she rose up from her position and reluctantly went back to her flat. She threw her load on a chair and went to her bedroom. She glanced at her barely used nightstand and flipped the frame posed on it with a shuriken. The frame broke and the shards hid the photo from her eyes with the light reflecting on all the tiny little broken pieces.

"Time to get to work." She said out loud.

When Sakura arrived at the bridge, she noticed she was the first to arrive which was a feat all in itself. She awaited in silence with nothing else to do than looking around. Hikyo appeared a few minutes later and grunted like usual. It was how he said good morning to anyone he deemed worthy of talking to him. She would usually slap the heck out of him but at his sight, she felt her negative emotions switch to something more positive so she let it go. She did not want to appear moody in public. The visit to the hospital was just catastrophic for her.

She looked afar and saw her second teammate. Katou was extremely pale and withdrawn the moment he walked into their view. He had large bags under his eyes and he radiated with exhaustion so when smoke erupted next to him he had no time to duck any possible threat and fell face first on the ground.

They expected their Obito to just wave at them and give a smirk but it was the silver haired man that they got. Hikyo and Sakura were both ready to fight if necessary but the man waved his hands dismissively and leaned against bars of the bridge.

"Now, now, lower your weapons." They recognized the man who introduced himself as Hatake Kakashi the first day they were presented as a team.

Sakura lowered hers but still kept her other hand on her pouch. Something about this man made her stand on alert and the conversation she spied of Obito-sensei and the woman did not improve her misgivings on him.

"Your sensei and I made a bet so he's currently with my team." He flipped open his orange book and began to read like he was not just explaining things to them."You have to find him before my team finds me or you lose."

"And why should we?" Katou asked when he finally got up.

"Well, if you want to continue D ranked missions, it's alright with me. My team will get the C rank."

Now that got their attention. Before they could extract any more informations from him he vanished and left them in the dust.

"I hate him." Sakura calmly stated before shifting her head to watch teammates' reaction.

"I agree with you." Hikyo took the lead and began to run vertically on a tree.

 _So he also knows how to do it._

 _ **What did you expect from him? He's a Hyuga.**_

She frowned when she saw Katou avoiding her. So what if she tended to attract the powerhouses around her? It's not any reason for him to avoid her like that. Although she could kick him in the balls she did not want to tempt having fireballs after her ass.

They relied on Hikyo's byakugan to find any trail. Unfortunately it was not as useful as they first thought.

"Where would he hide? In his usual spots? Or in the training grounds?" Sakura wondered. She glanced at Hikyo on top of the tree." Anything new?"

"No." He did not even look down and continued to search for any trace of Obito-sensei's chakra.

Having had enough of it he climbed down and gestured for his teammates to get moving. They ran to every location they could think of but they only saw glimpses of silver hair which was not what they were trying to find.

"Why is he following us?!" Sakura exclaimed. Her teammates looked as annoyed as her. She sent a kunai in the silver hair's direction and screamed in frustration.

"If this bastard is following then that fucking rat must be doing the same!" Hikyo suddenly stopped in his steps and looked back at her.

"Repeat what you just said."

"?Do the same?"

"Change of plan! We follow team 7!"Katou ordered.

Hikyo activated his byakugan the second Katou finished his sentence and extended his senses. He stopped at one direction and waved his hand. They understood and followed his lead. They decided to not pay attention to the irritating sensei of team 7. They slowed down and they noticed they were getting more and more close to the borders of the village and stopped.

"We did not take this potion into account." Hikyo whispered.

"We won't do the same mistake again." Katou replied. Sakura nodded her head and they started the real poursuit.

They could see team 7 argue with a figure hidden in the trees and glanced up. Hikyo had already detected the presence as it was not hidden but the oncoming of a jutsu stopped him from coming closer. Seeing that, Sakura also stopped and tugged on Katou's shirt even if he had yet to look at her since the beginning.

They planned to trap him and win the challenge. However the bastard jumped out of his hiding place and willing showed himself to his team. Obito-sensei had to come down and began to shout at his former teammate while his students were still hidden and too dumbfounded to move.

 _ **This piece of shit!**_

 _I'll kill him._

 _ **Go for it, cha!**_

Sakura could almost see Inner pumping her fist. She did not have to look at the boys to know they were slowly coming out of their stupor and becoming angry. It was supposed to be their victory, their first C rank mission but the other sensei just cheated. It was ironically at this moment that Sakura reminded herself that it was natural for them to cheat, it was practically written in their job description.

A noise snapped her out of her mind and she watched Sasuke yell for whatever reason. They were too far away to hear anything but they did not plan on coming out anytime soon. If it meant having to face their unfair defeat then they would rather return back to the village and go back to their own training which is what they've done next. Sakura felt no remorse on letting Obito-sensei deal with it. She had had enough with having to find him whenever he felt like giving her team special training.

They separated midway and she ended up going to one of the training grounds. She made sure to go to the one where there would be less likely to have a lot of people in and hummed under her breath. Her encounter with the yondaime was still tittering in the back of her head and it was easily infuriating her.

A sharp wind blew on her left and she reacted on instinct. She stepped on her right and saw a foot coming at the spot her head was. She looked behind her and saw a girl with a konoha hitai ate make her way to her. Before she could even talk the furious girl, judging by her expression and heavy breathing, attacked her. Sakura had to dodge a blow to her abdomen and jumped backward.

She quickly identified the situation. Either it was new fans, either the community of fangirls learned about the identity of the culprit who burned their sanctity to ashes. And either way she would not grovel at their feet so she only had one option left to engrave her warning in their puny minds. Obliterate the opponent.

The hysterical girl was keen on fighting and Sakura did not hold back. Executing a perfect kawarimi, she substituted with a branch slightly above the girl and shifted her weight on one foot. She let herself gain momentum and swung her foot to the back of the girl's head. Her kick was dodged but she did not let it stop her attack. After having landed on the floor, she gave a boost on her still folded legs and delivered a punch to the solar plexus but the other blocked this time. Channeling chakra in her limbs she let her fist digging into the stranger's arm and a loud crack was heard.

Sakura did not stop even as the girl cried out in pain and cradled her broken arm to her chest. Feeling her pent up anger surfacing she let out a war cry.

"SHANNAROO!" She swung her fist in the girl's face. She felt the girl's nose giving out in the impact and grinned. This exhilarating sensation. She depraved it from her body for so long. For the past four years she finally felt a little piece of herself returning. One she did not know she missed.

The girl did not get up. Sakura carefully moved closer and gripped a kunai in her hand. She remained tense and kicked her girl's side to make her turn.

"Oh? Kira? I thought you were in the civilian section. Well, I never checked." She chuckled and left the girl unconscious in the middle of the forest. She was not in a generous mood.

Sakura felt no remorse in beating the girl but decided that a break in her training might not be so bad. Upon seeing her home filled to the brink with scrolls made her want to hurl an explosion seal inside. All her pent up work felt useless.

"Pff." She made herself laugh.

She was downright pathetic. She was no better than Inner whose world revolved around a boy. She was the _same_. Wanting to find a cure for something bigger than what she could ever take on. While she thought that healing was useful, she found fighting better. She loved hurting people, a detail she would rather not share to people. After years of being quiet, she wanted to feel her hands making them suffer. All of those infuriating shitty girls...

She looked at the photo laying innocently in the broken frame on her nightstand. She took a hold of it, not paying attention to the glass cutting her fingers, staining the picture with little drops of blood, and tore it.

Tomorrow would be another day and she would go back to normal, that's what she kept trying to tell herself. She refused to acknowledge the warm feeling fighting to purposefully break the girl had gave her. Longing lingered in her heart.

She will take the medic exam and if she were to fail, she would give up on this branch. If she were to pass then she would just continue on this path as a secondary option. Healing was not for her anymore. She refused to be on the sidelines anymore.

It was too early to go to sleep but she just skipped lunch and dinner to lay on her bed until her eyes closed. When she woke up, it was still dark and her clock announced her that it was just 5 am. She did not feel much different and decided to just forget what happened yesterday. It was not the first time she fell into one of her angry mood and it would not be the last. What was so different about this one was a little detail that people did not notice expect those really close to her which in the end only counted one person.

She stepped on the shredded photo and gathered the stacks of paper to go burn them all.

 _The face of Shisui laid innocently in one torn piece of the photo._

At the hospital, a patient was still waiting for the visit of a rosette who had promised to see him everyday but this day, she did not show up.

TBC

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **After reading a review with how vague I was when I wrote the story, meaning too much(thank goodness for this comment or I'd have gone to lalaland while writing like the last one), I tried to dampen it down with this chap.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's note:**

 **So, I have a question. Between Katou and Hikyo, who would you kill off? It's only subjective...**

 **Enjoy and thanks for reading.**

* * *

There was something about the fire that made Sakura feel nostalgic. It made her remember the campfire her parents used to light in the middle of a new land. An undiscovered patch of land that laid untouched by humans. Which beauty ensnared her eyes. Watching the paper burn made her feel strangely tired, almost like she aged decades but so reminiscent of those times.

She watched it until the end and drenched it with the water she had gotten earlier. She wanted to burn papers, not start a great fire in the middle of the forest. She felt relieved that her team had been given a break to console themselves about the loss of their first C rank though they put all the blame on the sensei. Who did they think they were to bet on things like that?

She had little time to get to the hospital to take her exam and she should be in a hurry to go but she stayed calm. She was almost sure she would see the damn not so civilian girl in there and even the possibility of encountering her put a damp in her stabilized mood. She hoped the girl as still unconscious.

She sighed and finally got moving. Her eyebrows furrowed without her consent when she came in sight of the establishment. She observed people rushing to the emergencies. The shinobi were coming back from their mission. Some unscathed, others rushed to the operating table. She walked through the crowd and met her examiner.

She sighed in relief when she did not see the brown haired woman. For some reasons she couldn't bring herself to say her name in her head, like it would provoke something inside her to snap.

"Haruno Sakura?" The harsh voice of the man cut her out of her thoughts and she decided to observe the man more deeply.

While he was old as she predicted, he was not as old as she thought. His hair was black except for some grey strands and his shaved beard made him look more manly. His slightly muscled form suggested that he relied mostly on speed which was a great advantage for a med-nin.

"Hai."

"My name is Saichi Fuu and I'll be the one conducting your tests." Instead of judging for her looks and age, he remained silent and his eyes did not reflect any disdain which was a plus in her books. She instantly followed him and was directed to a small room with a white table in the middle.

Medical tools were scattered all around and she could see a summoning circle in the center. Someone had just gotten out and by the looks of it the woman utterly failed. The devastated look of deception looked embedded on her face. Her examiner looked baffled, or more likely exasperated.

"Nowadays….they're just getting worse." The examiner huffed and sent his co worker a look filled with meaning.

The door was closed behind them and he made her step in front of the table. He quickly told her the instructions and summoned a fish she had to reanimate. She wondered briefly if she shouldn't wash her hands but she dismissed the thought and got to work. She concentrated on pouring pure green chakra on the layer of her skin and hummed in meditation. When she saw the telling of emerald chakra coming out of her limb she got to work.

She paid no attention to the examiner and focused on the matter before hand. She would not be fit to pass the exam if she were to collapse with just a little pressure. Stress is something that teachers loved to make you undergo at a young age at the academy because they could not afford to be distracted by their emotions. A ninja shall never let his emotions control thyself.

Healing the fish was quick work. The examiner did not slip from his poker face so she had no way of knowing if she did good and she was not advanced enough to determine it by reading his body signs.

He opened the door and waited for her. She arched an eyebrow. The test could not be as simple as that. She looked back to the fish but it vanished before she could ask what to do with it. Her other eyebrow rose but she just ignored it and soundlessly obeyed the examiner's silent instructions. She was brought to another bigger place that looked more like a seal hazard than a hospital room.

After the fish was the pig which was followed by a horse. Where did they get the horse?! Let's not talk about the cow nor the platypus. She was given a huge amount of totally non related animals to heal like she knew a thing about their species. That summoning scroll was a black hole. She snapped when her last thing to heal was a human. Human coming out of the summon after all the animals.

She flipped the table and discarded the tools by stabbing them on the wall. She stomped over the patient and slapped him a good one when she saw it was a perfectly healthy humanoid that only replaced the true one out of boredom.

They stopped arguing and turned to the broom cupboard that she did not even notice when she entered as a loud bump was heard before everything went silent. The impostor was ready to bolt but Sakura laced her hand through his collar and tugged. The man fell and she delivered the final blow, a punch to the jaw. After the spectacular K.O she unlocked the cupboard and stared. She just stared.

The man behind her coughed and hid his discomfort by turning away from the horrid sight. She wasn't into bondage but the sight before her eyes stopped any interest she might have had in the future to nicht, nada, nothing, rien. Why would she be interested by bondage? The sight was messing her up.

"Whaaat? Is it an exam or the new carnival for the insane? You know the asylum is just 5 minutes away, not here. Now go!"

 _ **How do you know where the asylum is of all things?**_

 _Shut up._

 _ **Ah, I remember.**_

 _I said shut up._

She slapped her hand in the air and accidentally, not so much, scratched the man's cheek with her nail. It was the only patch of skin she could bring herself to touch. The rest of his body appeared to her in censured pixels.

Now that she looked past the pixels and more closely, not intentional, the man looked quite pale and ready to regurgitate the waste from his stomach. A slight cough startled her out of it but she refused to turn around. She flipped a shuriken to the middle of where the ropes met and the man fell at her feet. If it wasn't so disgusting, she might have found some amusement but now she was just disappointed.

"Kushishishi." Oh god. The impostor had woken up from her punch. She had to congratulate him since people tended to take a whole day before they opened their eyes from the assault on their jaw.

"Kondo...it was you. I should have known..." Saichi voiced with a tiredness that suggested he was used to it since a long time ago already.

Sakura swung around." You mean all this shit was not part of the test?!" At the nod she screamed." Why did you not stop it then?! No wait! Don' say it! I don't want to know!" She stopped him with her hand and rubbed her temples desperately. She felt him mumble in her hand and snatched in away from him. Seeing no spit on her skin she went back to giving him a piece of her mind wile walking away.

"Goddammit! Can't you respect the contestants?! What am I saying? What contestants?!" She shut her mouth without stopping on her stride and opened the door. Throwing one last look behind her she tore the door when her hand exerted too much strength and sweatdropped. "Oups."

"Kushishishi!" He did not see the boot coming at his face. He went back to the floor out cold while Saichi was clearly in conflict.

"Let's go tackle the requirements, shall we?" The look Sakura had on her face told him how he had a choice to make, either he followed her, either he followed the others.

He was fast to take the winning side and contacted his co workers to clean up the place. They were as happy as him at the state of it and he hushed the girl to another floor to be in peace. This time Sakura had a real patient and groaned. She could finally get rid of it and forget this day ever happened.

It was until she came face to face with a man that bear a lot of similarities to Shisui that she threw all respect to the window and punched the examiner through the wall. The poor man had no time to register her presence and yelped as he lost his footing. As he got up it was already too late to catch up to her. She wasn't gonna pay for the repairs and she plainly gave her opinion were she to be bothered with debts as a single sound was enough to convey her feelings. As inhuman as it was.

Screw being a med-nin, she'll just go with her instincts in hope her teammates would remain alive by the time she was deemed an expert in the subject.

Any person present at the hospital during her exit rose an eyebrow at seeing a man hanging out of a dainty shoulder and thrown through concrete like it was butter.

Sakura was still huffing by the time she was back home. She flopped on her messy sheets and was out like a light. However the smell of blood became too prominent to be able to stay asleep and she had to drag her tired body coupled with a tired mind to take a shower. She could not even remember if she had things to do for the day but at this point it didn't matter.

Watching the sun move higher in the sky made her realize only a day had passed and team 7 was gonna have their mission while hers was still stuck in the peaceful...in the busy village that threatened to take away her sanity the longer she was stuck in there. She longed to travel once again, to not be constricted to a land but to go farther than anyone ever dared to.

Her eyes kept riveting to the door and she knew what to do. Pulling on a relaxed outfit, she put on her boots and headed out.

It was truly a depressing matter how she found herself in the Uchiha compound nowadays. She threaded through the homogeneous crowd to pause in front of the familiar sight. As expected of the host, the entrance opened before she had the thought of lifting her hand. After a quick greeting she was ushered inside and waited in silence in the living room. She had no taken any interest in the weapon display on the walls and drank her tea in silence.

It was not long before her new teacher, Hashirama, waved enthusiastically at her and swept her in his teleportation technique. She only registered the green colour with her head spinning as she met the ground.

"Saa, let's start!" She could only thank the gods that he was not wearing the red armor or she would have fled. He looked ready to battle and she knew when she was out of her depths. Fight a hokage when you're a wet behind the ears genin? _Never._ She didn't give a shit about her previous rank. She was now a _genin_ and that's it.

What he was expecting of her, she did not know but she would not lose in a battle of stare. She did.

"What are we doing?"She should stop tilting her head when she asks a question, cursed habit. Cute on children, not the rest.

"Nowadays, medics rely on control which is good but incomplete. "What?" the best has to have a certain nature affinity..."Why?" to be able to gather energy around and not waste your chakra resources." Why was she seeing a halo on his head?" Small reserves or not do not matter at this point, it's how you gather it that is important." He's a saint. Small reserves do not matter! Ha!

"Why is it not known, sensei?" She asks with skepticism. If it was this simple, it should have been taught from the beginning or appear on the medical scrolls.

"Nature affinity is something a few have, not a lot. Mokuton is an elemental release that requires water and earth but also nature. You can't master it if one is missing."

"Is it wise to give the secret to your kekkei genkai?" She was glancing around for a sign of an eavesdropper.

"Hahaha! It's not a secret." He smiled.

Dread is the only feeling she could identify as he made a tree sprout out of the ground telling her to grow a leaf out of a branch.

"Sensei, I don't have a green thumb. What you can do, I cannot."

"Use medical chakra. It has to be pure or else you'll transform into a tree. Don't make this face, I'll be here to stop the process." He sat with his back leaning on the tree and took a nap.

"How…." And about nature affinity, what if she did not have one? What would happen to her except shifting into a tree?

What the heck? Training or experimenting? What was she? Guinea pig or student?

She did not grow a leaf but she took the opportunity to beat the shit out of the tree which proved itself to be stronger than most with a solid and thick trunk. This training might have some redeemable qualities.

It was late in the afternoon that her team was gathered in front of the hokage to be given a new mission but instead of just being dismissed, the nidaime appeared by his student's side and regarded them with suspicion. His eyes lingered on Obito and swiftly paid more attention to Sakura.

"As there is a lack of effective to take on this mission, your team was chosen to do it." Hiruzen began before letting his sensei take the reins. " The client asked for a double to replace the priestess who's been found dead a month ago. You'll have to find the murderer and make sure the festival is a success." Wow, that' a lot to ask from a team of genin.

"New genin usually do not take on a B-rank mission before having done some C-ranks but this case has some requirements mostly unique..." Tobirama's voice was full of authority and dared you to interrupt him or go against his words."Worry not, I will also accompany you for this mission."

Sakura's eyes nearly bulged out of her sockets. Fortunately she was not the only one affected and her sensei was less inclined to just agreeing to it.

"Is it wise to take the risk to let the other villages know of their reanimation?" Obito was unfazed by the glare he received from the hokage.

"It's to make a statement that we will expose our trump card." The ninja villages were tense and some were brewing a new war. The experienced soldiers could feel the discord stir in the air. It had already begun with the ambassador from Kumo who attempted to kidnap the Hyuga heiress and those sent in the borders of the fire nation felt an increasing amount of violence between opposing countries. It was only a matter of time and they had to protect their still frail village which had just restarted to thrive after Kyuubi's attack.

They all tensed. Whereas they were too young and from a peaceful generation, they were not as clueless as their classmates and not as naive as the adults, who tended to only listen to their own, thought.

"6 am at the entrance. Later than that will not be tolerated."

Sakura heard it loud and clear. Were they not to make it there in time, they would be left behind. Skipping Katou's presence, she observed Hikyo's reaction. His expression was calm, she did not account for his stiff arms that betrayed his apprehension. He'll get better with experience. She was truly besotted when he calmed down and toned down his talk about his so called superiority. It might have been because he stopped hanging around his stuck up relatives.

Hiruzen waved his hand and they knew better than to stay put any longer. Sakura promptly tried to not feel the eyes that bore on her back. She felt like she would regret it if she were to turn her head and look behind. Only Obito-sensei stayed behind.

The next day, she deadpanned as she saw gloomy atmosphere that settled over her traveling group. It was a small relief that they all used sealing scrolls instead of bags that Hikyo had the pleasure to mention team 7 had used for their first mission out of the village but then she didn't think the nidaime would let them be so foolish. It was more likely a punishment from their sensei than a lack of knowledge but she kept her mouth shut.

No one was talking. It was just silence and it disturbed the hell out of her. She was used to the antics between Hikyo and Katou but now...The nidaime's aura was too oppressing for a mere genin _ **or chuunin**_ to have a talk next to his imposing figure.

Sakura blinked and frowned. She swore she heard the hokage mutter 'not an Uzumaki, please not an Uzumaki.' It puzzled even more when he said that while looking at her.

She didn't even know where they were going.

"Obito-sensei." She grabbed his sleeve.

"Hm?" He looked back at her.

"Where are we going?"

"To the land of frost."

"…" She watched her teammates stop and take their scroll.

"…" She hoped she packed enough to fight against the cold.

In the end, only the adults knew what they were gonna do. They deliberately forgot to mention what the mission was about. It was a serious lack of teamwork and organization. It was plain stupid and hazardous.

"Why?" Hikyo asked although it was rather vague and had several meanings.

"Training." Obito and Tobirama both said at the same time. They glared at each other. The genin just let them quarrel while they continued to walk.

 _Meanwhile…_

"We'll continue the mission." Naruto yelled with determination. Sasuke and Hinata nodded and Kakashi tossed a shuriken laced with a fast acting poison and easily killed a mist ninja hiding in the mist who never saw it coming. He knew the demon brothers would not let everyone of them be caught. There would always be a scapegoat and one left behind to relay the information gathered. Not anymore.

"Sensei, what are you doing?" Kakashi looked down and gave his one eye smile.

"Just felt like stretching for a bit."

"Naruto, shut up. You'll get us caught." Sasuke snapped.

* * *

"You're no better!"

"P-pl-please st-sto-stop, t-the bo-boat..." Hinata stuttered but was ignored.

 _ **Thump.**_ The boys both nursed their head.

"Boys, calm down." Kakashi laid back but kept an eye on them. They understood and stopped moving.

 **TBC**


	8. Chapter 8

Slacking off was proven to be difficult in the presence of a powerful figure who did not like laziness and practically beat the shit out of it. Breaks were only given when needed, meaning when one of them was gonna drop out. The fact that all her body was still trembling like a leaf even after a night of rest was telling. Her teammates were in no better condition and her sensei was in a competition to tire themselves out with _him_.

They finally slowed down at the sight of snow. The atmosphere had visibly lowered and they all got their cloak out though she was sure the nidaime was warm enough with his fur. The question was how he did not die from the heat back in the village.

After what felt like weeks they stood at the border of the land of frost. The relief that coursed through her body gave her the energy to give a last step to enter the sheltered village. There was no pure curiosity to look at the infrastructure, just the sole aim to go and collapse at the inn. Were they even staying at an inn? In the end, she was forced to followed the adults and ignore the snow that was slowing deteriorating the rough exterior of her boots. Long live her boots! She pitied the fellow genin who had open toed shoes.

The sun was unexpectedly warm against her skin despite the cold. It slowly woke her senses and she got a real look at her surroundings. She let a gasp escape from her mouth but she didn't think she could have kept it inside.

Her eyes felt like burning from all the light that reflected from the buildings. It was like everything was made of glass or more likely ice in this part of the world. They clearly used concrete and other things but it was all shrouded by a thin layer of snow. The trees had a myriad of silver roots that decorated the streets and their leaves were a pure snow white. The wind did not even tear some from their spot. They held strong on their branch.

They continued deeper at the entrance of the mountains away from the village and the landscape took another turn. The leaves grew darker and took the color of rubies while the branches were strangely black. The earth was a deep amethyst color that should look out of place but it was fitting. They finally stopped next to a torii usually seen at the entrance of a shrine but she saw none.

"How come it feels colder here than there?" Hikyo was the one who broke the silence. Sakura was inclined to respond but she was seriously about to ask the same question.

"Why would it not?" Obito answered with a smirk.

"The change of colors is is due to a saturation of nature chakra that the vegetation grew with, giving the greenery a resistance against outdoors influence and hence the change of scenery. Without it, you could only be able to see ice." Tobirama completely broke the mysterious atmosphere Obito had been trying to set.

"And where are we going?" Sakura added.

"To the residence where the last priestess resided." Tobirama replied back. His gaze lingered on her face once again before turning back. It was beginning to get annoying.

Sakura blinked and gazed back and forth. How come the temple was nearly completely black? It's supposed to be holy, not ominous. Or maybe what they find holy is actually…Whatever.

Bright pillars were used as lights and a way to find their way with golden doors which were all closed with prayers written in silver all over the walls. She did take heed of the small bloodstain in one of the letters in the corner but decided not to alert her group until she was sure they were alone.

They stopped at the first opened door since they came in and her sensei knocked on the door. They didn't wait for someone to let them enter before pushing the giant door and barged in with a certain authority she couldn't imitate. While the room was expensive looking, the design remained quite simple and not overdone like she saw in most of the venerated shrines. Money tended to corrupt even the most faithful or maybe the person wasn't that faithful to begin with.

Someone was sitting around a circle of high candles. The scribbles seemed to shine on the stranger's face but what was most surprising was his eyes. They were a bright pink that stood out of his dark features and gave him an ethereal glow.

"Long time no see Seiwa." Tobirama let out an imperceptible smile that lightened the tension they didn't even know it was there until it dissipated.

"Indeed. It has been a long time." Seiwa's long black ponytail swayed to the side and a strand brushed against his cheek." Shouldn't you be in resting in your grave, dear friend?"

"Oh? I should say the same to you. You look as youthful as the first time." Obito was trying to hide his surprise but his students did not miss the incessant twitch of his hand.

"Hmm… The girl really does have a lot of similarities to _her_. She might be a better option than the last one." Sakura wondered why people seemed to find her appearance fascinating these days. Ah no, it was the hair.

"That's a cruel thing to say." Tobirama was taking off his headpiece and armor." You should be able to take care of my things, right?"

"Of course, for the duration of the mission." Seiwa lifted his hand, swinging his long sleeve still hiding his hands. Chakra threads shot out of his fingertips and the objects on Tobirama's hands vanished from his hold.

 _What will happen after?_

 _ **Maybe he'll take them for himself.**_

 _Does he look like he needs them?_

 _ **Foreplay?**_

 _Ohh...I don't want to know after all._

A knock emanated from the door and a man swiped in with a priestess garb in his arms. He quickly spotted Sakura and drew his load off on her. Her hands shot to take them before they fell in reflex and she nearly lost her balance with the unsuspecting weight of the clothes. Hikyo was eyeing her charge with confusion while Katou didn't want to miss anything from the exchange with their hokage and the stranger.

"Well it is time for her to change. I'll call in some servants to help her in her task." Seiwa took his time to get up and marched towards her. She ignored the music of doom running in the background and focused on the man in front of her.

"There will be no need for them. I know how to do it myself." She avoided looking at his straight in the eyes and stared at his jaw. A chuckle startled her out of his hairless jaw and she turned to her most trusted sensei, because he's the only one, who looked ready to laugh at her. Why?

She was obligated to follow the manservant wishing there was a feminine presence by her side in vain and came in a bedroom that was most likely where she would be staying if the setting was right. It screamed priestess' room with the countless of shrine clothes clustered to the floor. That girl was one messy gale. Was she truly gonna stay in a dead girl's room? Where was the respect for the dead?

 ** _It died along with her_.**

 _That was morbid, Inner._

 _ **So what? Ignorance is bliss but knowledge is what will be saving your ass.**_

 _I feel like you gained wisdom or is it just me?_

 _ **I'm a fucking sage, bitch.**_

 _Ah no, you're still you. Oh and what you said has no connection with my thoughts._

Nothing like a conversation with herself to calm down though it occurred more times than she cared to admit. The servant was still standing next to the door and did not look ready to go away. Was she supposed to eject him out or just change in front of a complete stranger like nothing was wrong with that?

After kicking the man out of the chamber, she untangled all those layers and proceeded to yake off her own clothes.

"Cold! Cold! Quick!" How come it was so freezing when she felt completely warm just a second ago?

The bandages were off and the white and red piece and thank the gods for the red hakama, any other colors would have clashed with hers. Her hair cascaded around her and snuggled against the small curve of her waist. A long ribbon had been provided to tie it but she did not know how to get it to be straight when she put the ponytail back. She would need help for that step which made her feel useless if such a small task required help. Some curls had gotten under her clothes and she was being blinded by some. That's why she kept it tied most of the time.

She was hurried out with her mane in disarray but the problem was quickly solved and she purred in contentment at the pampering. Another weakness to get rid of. Like the mob that appeared in her aim. Those things aka people popped out of nowhere.

She was taken to another chamber but saw none of her fellow travelers. Did they just leave her alone in an unknown land? No, they didn't. They couldn't have done that.

 _Inner! I feel alone!_

 _ **Me too! You know how it feels when you just get left to do nothing just because you can use your chakra better than the ones in your team?**_

 _Well shit. I cannot sympathize._

 _ **Why do I even bother to talk to you…**_

They should seriously invest in lights because it's downright creepy to see how well a person can blend with the shadows. Even more when the person wore dark traditional clothes. It was like seeing a ghost coming out of a gate from the land of the dead.

 _Ah those tear ducts are so familiar. Familiar?_

 _ **Well sorry woman but they don't feel familiar to me.**_

Sakura jumped when the door closed behind her but felt kind of relieved to see the nidaime's friend or acquaintance. He waved at her to come closer and the blending shadow came closer to the light. She wondered if it was gonna melt. It did not.

"There was unforeseen event and we had to call for another replacement." Seiwa's smile was getting creepier with each word that came out of his mouth.

"Itachi-san?" Sakura gasped.

"Good evening, Sakura-kun." Maybe it was because of his voice but hearing this honorific next to her name didn't weird her out.

"Hi?"

"Oh, you know each other. Perfect. I'll let you two talk." Seiwa vanished before she had the time to retort.

"Well that was unexpected. But, what are you doing here, Itachi-san?"Standing next to him showed her how small she was compared to him and it truly made her pity her poor growth.'Just have to wait for puberty to come'

"Their main male lead for the festival is missing."He was searching through his sleeve for something.

"Is that so…."

"Hn." He pulled out a scroll and created a shadow clone.

"?"

"This village is less susceptible to illusions so we'll need to use a jutsu to make you temporally grow. The priestess was 18 and while her clothes allow you to fit in, you look too young to be mistaken for her. The effect should only last for about a month so it will be enough to dissipate before you enter the village. You might feel side effects with your mind that will try to catch up with your newly grown body but I'll be here to stop you before you fail." _Fail..._ _like your jumble of words._

Should she mention it was the first time she heard him talk so much in one setting but then she never really saw him except for the visit in the hospital and even that moment was brief.

"Ok but why is your clone trying to pull my clothes down?" She was currently straining her muscles trying to resist against the clone's grip. Her hands holding on her collar were ready to lash out on him.

"Do not worry. In no way would I ever be attracted to your body." He delivered the final blow to her pride and dignity.

Sakura could almost feel the blow he did to the always bleeding injury on her mind. She let the clone expose her torso to the air and kept her sniff inside her. No, she wasn't offended at all.

 _ **Keep lying to yourself.**_

At least, he let her keep her chest bandages.

"I'm not a pedophile." She wanted to tell him to shut up.

His clone took out a brush and began drawing on her skin down to her navel and her back with his chakra. The blue trace left behind black tattoos painted on her pale skin. The original was fiddling with the scroll and frowning at the description. It was strange to see him so human when there were so many rumors about him being incapable of showing emotions, of being a robot and of being asexual. She agreed with the last one. She saw the eureka in his posture. He summoned another clone and stood in front of her. His other clones were on each side of her and they started forming signs at the same time. They were too fast for her to recognize the sequences and the signs.

"...rebirth…" He was muttering too low for her to hear the entirety of the technique's name but it was easy to guess that it was a modified version of one of the legendary sannin's signature jutsu, Tsunade's famous technique to retain her youthful appearance. She heard him mumble a quick apology when it began.

"AaaaRGH!" She snapped her link to Inner's consciousness.

 **Crack**. **Criiick**.

The sound of bones snapping reverberated through the chamber and muffled cries of pain were increasing.

Her body was burning like she was dipped in a volcano. Her blood was flowing like magma in her veins and her bones kept breaking over and over _and over_. Her head was gonna explode from the pressure and her eyes watered from the strain. The tattoos on her skin were sipping through the layers and ran through every inch of her body.

She blissfully blacked out before the pain grew worse.

When she woke up, her body was aching everywhere. _Everywhere_. She still had a reprieve, she could open her eyes without her killing headache from hell getting stronger. The pain was quick but damn was it intense and she wasn't even warned. She suddenly felt a cool and wet object on her forehead. She sighed in relief.

"I am sorry for not warning you but you would have tensed your muscles." He paused. So what if she tensed her muscles?"The pain would have increased tenfold if you were not relaxed." Nevermind.

Her throat was too parched to talk but he wasn't waiting for an answer judging from the small reassuring smile he gave her.

"Nevertheless, you'll be beautiful when you'll reach maturity." His smooth words and his killer smile were enough to knock her out. Was he trying to kill her? Well, he apologized for calling her an unattractive whelp even if he did not employ those words.

A small thank you ghosted over her lips and he changed the now lukewarm cloth on her forehead.

It took another day for the soreness to settled down but in the end it was worst it when she saw herself in the mirror. She had less baby fat and her figure grew taller and slimmed down. She might not have an hourglass shape but she liked her slender form better. She could not call herself flat anymore. Hallelujah! Now if only she could see the picture of this priestess to complete the disguise.

She spied the corridor and went to the long empty corner. She saw the door half opened and the light still lit up and rasped her knuckle against the gold.

"Sorry for the wait, I'm ready."

Itachi was still dressed in traditional clothes and he looked more fit to be the young master of a rich family than a ninja. Just leave it to him to be both. He gave her this small smile that did not fail to relax her since she saw it and took a seat on the bed. He was still looking at some papers that was sure to hurt her poor brain. She still wasn't used to this body if the numerous times she fell before being able to walk was worth mentioning.

"The final act will be in a week. You have to memorize the script and practice the moves..." He continued his explanation with a comforting voice that made her want to sleep some more. Seeing the girl, no woman, dozing off, he stopped and laid her back in his bed before shutting off the lights.

She didn't know why she was so tired and she had yet to see her team. She groaned and rolled to a warm pillow. She raised her arms to cuddle it but the pillow moved and vibrated. She slapped it a few times but found it quite hard. Weren't cushions supposed to be soft? It vibrated once again and she had to flutter her eyelids before she saw her not so inanimate pillow. She had an instant reaction, she sat up and bowed before him.

"I'm so sorry. So so very sorry. I didn't mean to do that." Her voice was still hoarse from sleep and she yawned." Sorry."

"It's okay." Itachi chuckled and poked her in the center of her forehead. She winced and rubbed the spot. Who knew a poke could be so strong? She could feel it throbbing. Now that she thought about it, her body felt really strange. She felt some kind of liquid leaking to the whole length of her legs. She looked down.

He tried to get up but Sakura had a tight grip on his disheveled clothes.

"Hm?"

Sakura was slowly turning red but she didn't know what to do right now. She was not prepared for this scenario.

"M-my stomach hurts." She gripped him tighter.

"?" He turned to her side and saw a red stain in the sheets."Oh..." He swiftly turned his gaze to the other side and petted her hair."I'll go find some help."

"Ah! No! Wait, that's too embarrassing!" She hide her face between her hands.

He was still. He moved quietly as to not spook her and slide his hands beneath her beneath to get a hold of her. She let out a small shriek and blushed furiously at the bridal hold. She couldn't look at him in the eyes anymore. Not after that. He slowly trailed off the the joined bathroom and put her to the edge of the bathtub. She still wasn't looking at him.

"Take your time. I'll get you new clothes." He walked out and grabbed the doorknob." Don't be ashamed, it was bound to happen sometime during this month." He left her.

K.O.

After one of the most humiliating moments of her life she stared blankly at her food and looked around the empty dining room. While she would have preferred being alone than to be in Itachi's company after the small episode, she was tense with this new environment.

The cameo came back and sat across her.

"How are you?" Seiwa had a small box in his hands and deposited it near her plate.

"Fine."

"Good." He nodded."Your team has been assigned another task and won't be able to guard you but I asked for your other companion to guide you so don't separate yourself from him."

'What?'She deadpanned."Why?"

"Well, he's replacing the one who was known as the priestess not so secret lover." She could see sparkles in the background.

"What kind of person was this girl exactly?"

"Frivolous? Irresponsible?" His smile gathered more sparkles."Unfit? She didn't like to be bound to a place. She liked to go to the village and create havoc upon the villagers." What kind of maiden is that?

"Excuse me for the rudeness but why is she even important at all?" She took a hold of the box and opened it.

"Well, her role is hereditary. Her mother has been the one before her and so her grandmother until the first one."He picked a mouthful of food from her chopsticks." It's her blood that matter."

Ironically, the box concealed blood red contact lenses.

The man left shortly after she finished her meal and she was reluctant to stand up. She could feel the murky liquid flowing from her intimate place and she immediately disliked the sensation. Smelling like blood could blow her cover if she were to investigate and Itachi had let her blow off some steam though it was more because she could look at him without heating up. And she had to train in this condition…

Let's just conclude it with a point because her equilibrium was out of charts. How could she dance when she couldn't control her body? Her limbs were too long and her center of gravity had moved; Either way she was messed up and it could take more than one week to get used to it. She was doomed. Itachi had kindly given her some advice but none of them were working.

While thinking she passed by the blood stain she had seen the first day she arrived and tilted her head. Why did it look bigger than before? She was sure it also was darker. Well, she'll have to ask one of the servant wandering in the perimeter.

She came back to the late priestess room and promptly went back in her steps. She was not meant to have seen that. Nope. Just Nope. She did not see the servants making out in this bedroom. Nope. Unfortunately she bumped into a solid wall which was not possible and raised her head. Itachi looked down and rose an eyebrow.

"That was surprising."

He said it.

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

Once again, Sakura found herself covering her face with her hands. She was just unlucky with this clan. She dared look through the hole between her fingers to see him observing her. A loud bang and shrieks were heard at the other side of the wall and she whined.

She silently despaired and hoped for a sign to stop this massacre of her innocent mind. Mind you it was not really innocent but...it did not warrant such an act, in front of her, who never even kissed someone in her life. Itachi extended his hand to her and she took it with no hesitation. Everything to get out of this awkward moment. He took her to another unknown room and she had to wonder how he could maneuver himself in this labyrinth.

Itachi took out a big fan out of nowhere and handed it to her. She gave him a questioning gaze but he just gave her a scroll and vanished with a quick shunshin. This man is like hot and cold. One moment he's helping you and then he just leaves you alone. She unrolled the scroll and squinted at the small pictures. She was supposed to imitate that? That was the dance? Obviously not. It had to be some kind of training. Yeah, training.

"Move your hand to the right with the left foot floating in the air and a twirl? What?" She squinted at the paper. The content didn't change. Well, now she knew what to do, strike weird poses.

"Aaann!" * **bang** *"Moooore!" Agony or pleasure? They sound the same. That's one of the reason why they say there's not much difference between pain and pleasure. The question remains, why was she still hearing what was happening when she was far away from the occupied room?

Sakura jumped and ran as fast as she could while not making any noise. From all the screams she heard they were far from over in there and a change of bedroom would be really convenient. Disguise or not, if it was like that even before the priestess death then she might know why she sounded so...reluctant to do her duties. She returned to he entrance of the temple and kept the desire to just leave down to the bottom of her mind.

Why is this stain getting larger? She moved closer to the stained letters she noticed at the beginning and read them.

 _I can't read it._

… _Why is it crossed off?_

 _Inner?_

…

 _..._

 _Fuck._

 _Why are you out of commission?!_

 **Flashback**

 _She heard him mumble a quick apology when it began._

" _AaaaRGH!" She snapped her link to Inner's consciousness._

She did know why there was no response. Now she just had to find out how to get her link back from wherever she lost it along the way. For some reason, she did not think she would get the connection anytime soon.

Not only she just realized she was utterly alone in her predicament but she was also lost in the maze. Why did she bother with this mission? An uncomfortable sensation between her legs stopped her from dwelling on it any further. She was eventually found by Seiwa who oozed suspicion from his very being. To make a freshly graduated genin impersonate a dead person whose description was flawed and blurry around the edges and make said genin do the mission without a team was kind of presumptuous.

Eventually she was forced to relearn her body in ways she never tried to for fear of snapping in half for while she was flexible there were limits to it and get used to her periods. She was more than relieved when it stopped. Her interaction with people was lessening more and more as the festival got closer. She was dressed in lavish robes all day and her head was hurting from all the jumbos about purification and the rituals she had to get done.

"They do know I'm just a substitute, right?" She mumbled under her breath watching the servants come with more accessories than she could hold on her person.

Was it a test? To prove how well she could handle completing the tasks alone? Was it the same for her teammates? Will she find a way to get her inner back and stop talking to herself without getting a reply back? Her fate was so undetermined she did not know what she was supposed to do anymore.

The doomsday was here upon her and all she got from her enquiry was about how she could have eloped with her famous secret lover, not so secret if everyone knew about him in her opinion. Actually, everything since the beginning of the mission was strange. How could her connection to Inner be cut? How could her strongest defense against mental intrusions be annihilated by something like pain? It should have been blocked out. And there was still this stain that refused to leave her mind.

She clasped her hands together and began to disrupt her coils."Kai.' She whispered too lowly for anyone around to be able to hear it.

She could feel a small change but a coil refused to be put out of balance. She frowned and disrupted it again. She could feel a waver in her perception but nothing else. Whatever put her in what seemed to be an illusion was strong. When did she fall for it? For a genjutsu type she was unbelievably weak against them. She felt a presence getting closer to her position and laid her arms down to her sides.

"Seiwa-san?" He was wearing a blank mask.

"It's time for the opening ceremony." He extended his hand and waited for her to take it.

Sakura smothered her frown before it appeared and slowly laid her fingers which he immediately entwined with his. They bypassed several rooms and were walking in a random pattern that she knew was nowhere near the exit but they still got outside.

 _Illusion_

She was sure of it now. She was trapped but she could not act before knowing where she was heading. She was a ninja, known for deception. She could not act like a foolhardy little newbie.

 _Break the illusion._

She would get caught if she were to be caught surprised when she broke the illusion. Wasn't it strange? How Uchiha Itachi suddenly appeared? It's well known that he's an anbu captain. He had no time to waste on a low rated mission.

 _Break._

Teamwork is what they teach the most when you graduate from the academy and choose to pursue this way.

 _Break._

So how could she be left alone in an unknown territory?

Pain was what made her communication with Inner stop. It takes more than that to make her lose it.

 _ **BREAK IT.**_

Everything was an illusion!

She snatched her hand away from the stranger and cursed her idiotic self from not having any weapon on her. Wait, genjutsu type, just make them appear. Throwing a handful of senbon without aiming she took this opportunity to run.

She could feel his eyes digging onto her back and sped up. Before she could reach the end of the forest, the sky was shrouded by a cloudy black substance. A hand tugged on her hair and she winced before being taken down to the ground, tackled by the man. His eyes glinted ominously with the pink glowing like a star against the blackened sky.

"KAI!" She unleashed her chakra without trying to control it, giving into the wild nature that clashed with the calm color the energy emitted.

The coy resisting suddenly gave out under the pressure and the pink glowing eyes darkened to a dull red. The sky shattered like a mirror and she recognized her landscape before the pieces tried to get back in their place.

Fighting the fatigue her sipping chakra provoked, she tried to do one last boost before hearing a familiar voice.

 _ **DAMN FUCKING SHIT! IT'S MY PLACE!**_

Inner Sakura fought back for her rightful place and the landscape got pulverized by the black tendrils that seemed come directly from her. By the time the imagined place got absorbed in its entirety, her defenses slammed back to their duty and a sense of calmness swept over her tired materialized body.

 _ **You took your damn time to wake up.**_

 _How was I supposed to know?!_

 _ **One, the mission was suspicious. Two, you ever heard about the land of frost? If yes, it would have been logical to be given some information about it. Three, behavior. You should have noticed the change and they even gave us a clue. For fuck sake, they said it was for training!**_

 _I will have to put my guard once again._

 _ **No shit sherlock!**_

 _Nowadays, I feel quite foolish._

The only light from her mind was the one emanating from her body and it was slowly extinguishing with the sheer exhaustion she put on her head. Inner was nowhere energetic enough to recreate her persona and just vanished to take care of her own side. She was alone and waiting for her real body to wake up but first she had to rearrange all the tangled coils caused by the attack. She was quite pissed about it since she took a while to get self control.

A ray pierced through the void and her eyelids opened with a heavy weightiness. It was with half opened eyes that she got a hold of her situation and breathed out like she was still out cold. She could not see any details as the place was obscured by the night. She heard a snore to her right and the small hint of a camp fire from the smoky scent and the ashes itching at her throat.

After a few moments, she could note that she was in some sort of cave with 2 persons in her presence and no idea if there were other ones planning on coming back.

"Oi! She's moving!" A loud voice that grated on her nerves shouted out.

"I ain't gonna do a thing." This one was way smoother but the cruel tone took away the only redeeming quality she had found in it.

"Someone, get the illusionist in here." The man demanded authority and he was clearly the leader of the group.

"He's sleepin', still feelin' the effects of the lil' girl's fightin' against him." She wanted all of them to shut up.

"Damn man can't keep himself from getting hurt by a small behind the ears little girl." Hearing his voice, the frustration was rising and it wouldn't be long before she could use her limbs or even feel them.

All her energy had gone to escape from the intricate illusion fed by her mind but it didn't mean she was gonna let herself be caught a second time. One of the men walked away and her limbs awaken as her muscles screamed in pain. She was unarmed and there was nothing she could use to knock the man out except for the fire.

The fire! Of course, she was so idiotic for not taking elements into accounts though she was better off relying on the earth.

The moment she felt a flicker of her chakra she jumped into action. She slammed it to the ground and the earth crumbled and cracked to form a thin but long spike just beneath the stranger.

"Fuck!" She saw the shadows shift and the man holding onto his injured side.

She ignored her protesting legs and ran to the exit while making sure no one was following her trail. The sound of voices steered her from her designated way towards a potential way out of this trap.

"How many times do I have to repeat I can't fix it?!"A woman?

"Lot good you are..."

"A self destructive illusion! You ever heard of one during your short attempt at having an education?!"A small pause." I guess not." They were growling and yells coming from where she had initially woken up were getting closer.

"Ok, ok,ok. She uses her own aptitudes to feed and nourish whatever made her stuck in coma, understood? Easy explanation, even for you."

That, Sakura was definitely taking notes to discover what was amiss. Not awaiting for more than that, she sped up through a tunnel. Maneuvering through them in the dark was a big gamble except she did not have a lot of choices. She ran until she was blocked by a solid wall. It was a dead end. The footsteps were within her hearing.

 _What do I do now…_

 **Crack.**

Silence.

"Hikyo." She recognized her sensei.

"I've got her."

She had no time to react before they found her clutching to bribes of dirt clinging to the walls. If she was hallucinating, what was telling her it was not another one?

"Katou, light the room." They were used to being issued orders from him during their training but never had he sounded as serious as now.

"Hai sensei." She was able to see their faces and blinked in surprise. Their little rescuing was not without its own obstacles.

"Sakura?" He was unexpectedly gentle in his approach.

Black spots began to appear and the place was spinning. She lost her footing and held herself up by leaning on the flat surface. A curtain of magenta obscured her vision with the black spots growing larger until it invaded her whole vision. Her feet gave out under her and she was only conscious enough to feel an arm catching her before she faced the ground.

 _Well, now I don't have the choice between dream or reality._

A few snips of conversation filtered through her ears but did not register in her brain. The weightless feeling of being held in the air kept her company for a long time. A soft over slowly engulfed her and she fell asleep.

It was the probe of a sting on her arm that made her conscious of her current situation. She heard a startled yelp as she forced herself to sit up and slap a hand over whatever her arm was getting. It was reckless and unprofessional but she could be permitted to do mistakes as the puncture got worse and warm blood caressed her skin as it dropped on the sheets of the bed. It was obvious she was in a hospital room and the nurse was evidently getting reinforcements.

"The patient is awake!"

"Call the doctor!"

"All the doctors from this shift are taken."

"Can't someone find out where all the staff went?"

"Emergency! We need an available room, we have to operate now!"

"There's a shortage of anesthetics!"

"Where are-"

The hospital was busy. She could wait a little more to get out of the hospital. It's not like she's currently dying. She contemplated going back into oblivion but nowadays it felt like it was the only thing she did in her life. She laid back and watched the ceiling, waiting for a competent person to look after her case. It was gonna be long.

She got one by the end of the day not that she knew it with her current location. They said she was stable but needed to stay for a few days to monitor her body lest she gets back into a simulated coma. However it only meant she would use this break as meditating.

A familiar face showed up and he sat on the chair next to the bed.

"Hey kiddo." The eye patch was hanging precariously on his head.

"Sensei."

"Feeling good.?" Slap. She wanted to slap him.

"I am in a hospital bed forbidden to even go out. I do not feel good." Her limbs were getting complacent and it would be hell when she could go back training."Look at my face and tell me I'm smiling."

"What?"

"I am not so no and just get me out of here. There's only so much meditation I can tolerate without sweets."

"I'll visit you later." He got up.

"Don't you dare leave me alone!"

"Then stop sprouting nonsense!" He shouted back but did not move further away from her. Mission accomplished.

"Are you telling me I'm nonsense?!" Sakura was bordering the side of the bed and looked ready to pounce on him.

"What?! What did they give you in here?! That's why I hate hospitals!" He threw his hands in the air and sighed.

"We all hate hospitals!" A well known fact for those who take infiltration missions or all the newbies taught to never be in a situation where you show weakness.

"What? But your medic training, what happened to it?!"

"No!"

"No?"

"Nevermind, I'm just frustrated." And she diddn't want to be alone again.

They both calmed down and Sakura took a deep breath before asking what exactly happened to her as she could not rely on her own memories.

"We were heading out of the village for a C-rank mission when we were attacked. For some reason they targeted you while I was dealing with their leader. By the time we finished with them you were nowhere to be seen." Obito was guiltily fiddling with his fingers but maintained eye contact with her.

"What mission?" Did she replace her memories to make the illusion more believable? Why couldn't she remember?

"You don't remember...I should've known." Another sigh. There was still an element that titillated her.

"Obito-sensei, for how long was I missing?" She was scared of the answer. It seemed to be just a moment for her. She could vividly remember all the details that her mind scampered to mix and present to her.

"Three weeks."


End file.
